The 'early bird'

After a brief absence I have manage to track down my Little owls, this pair I am sure are the owlets from the parents I used to photograph.

I am hoping she has, or will be laying eggs soon, but as she does not always sit on the nest all the time during incubation it's difficult to tell. Still keeping a good distance, after about 3 days they began to tolerate my presence, albeit in a blind surrounded by hay bales. I limit the amount of times I reposition my location and move only when they have left the tree, generally towards midday or the later part of the day, reducing any additional stress to them. This means I am fixed for the follow day(s), therefore light & timings are very mixed so I have to make the best of it, not ideal. I'm now leaving them for around 5 weeks in the hope they have a successful brood. Their location is in a very old Willow tree hit by lightening, their surroundings consist of large grass areas, a small stream and ploughed field offering an excellent hunting ground,like this rather tasty worm.

Steve
Subject: Little owl with worm (Athene noctua)
Location: UK
Camera: Canon 1DX
Lens: 500f/4 plus 2x
Exposure: 1/250s at f/10 ISO1600 +1 stop compensation

Not ideal using the 2x, but I want to keep my distance.