The flight of an Eagle Owl during an Autumn sun set (c)

Hi everyone

Been away for a while building things

Took a breather yesterday evening & took one of the Eagle Owls out flying. I also dusted off the camera/lens & made it a joint venture & what a pleasure it was. Much better than hammer & nails & pointing brickwork.

This is one of the many shots I achieved during our session, he enjoyed it (understatement) & I enjoyed it too.

(c) in title for captive bred but not his fault

D2X- 400mm AF-S II F2.8
ISO 140, F2.8, 1/250th sec
Handheld (No Flash used)

Thanks for looking

Back to hammer & nails now

News update: For those who are interested in the new place, all is going to plan & we should be re-locating our Centre by the end of January 2008, fingers crossed The land (12.5 acres) is now prepared & pathed to progress into a mini nature reserve, (1.9 miles of 2 metre pathways, 4 metre field margins, rough pasture, thistles & good hedgrows with berries & mature trees such as Oak) looks great so far with loads of wildlife about, On site are Barn Owl, Little Owl, Tawny Owl, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk & Buzzards. These species are a great indicator & show what has been done is correct, a single wild Barn Owl (male) is a new arrival & fingers crossed he stays & attracts a mate.

If OK I will upload an image showing the Farm & the land, the outer paths show the boundaries. Delete if it is against rules.

Here is an aerial shot (Taken by a friend) of the new Barn Owl Centre, land is now prepared for simple management, lots of building work left to do though to the farm buildings, with new aviaries to build etc. There is another nature reserve that backs on to our land with ponds, this belongs to Severn Trent, it would be brilliant if we can one day link to this in the future.

Closest post code for Google Earth is GL2 5LE, here you can zoom right in to the farm buildings.

Please delete if this goes againt the rules

Hi Vince,

Lovely shot , really like the motion in the wings and those eye's burn in the evening light , very nice.


Your new site looks like it's progressing nicely , hope all goes well.

Regards

Andy...

Wonderful shot, Vincent - of this powerful owl. If I had one coming against me in the wild like this, I'm sure i wouldn't stay standing to take the shot....

Vincent!! Great to hear from you Beautiful shot , very intense eyes, what a stare WHOA looks great for hand held!

Sounds like the manual labor is paying off ,huh
Thanks for the update on the centre it looks beautiful ...look forward to more photos of the place. Amazing how all those raptors are getting along on 12 acres. Wished I Iived closer
to it.

Take care owl man

Tony

U.S.

Hi Vince
Glad to hear things are going well-will try to get down there one day-Cracking owl image-the eyes have it-lovely light as well

That close to the Severn .. I hope you're on high ground ... or have some water wings .

Glad to hear things are going well for you.

Hi nice to see the place Vince. My uncle lives about 3 minutes up the road from there. I'll have to arrange a visit next year!

Nice shot Vince, even nicer back garden though! Best of luck with the new premises.

Regards

JohnS

Good to hear from you again on here Vince, and good luck with the final stages of the move.

Love the lighting on the owl too!!

Mark

Thanks for the comments on the image & the new place, I will keep you updated if its ok

Nick, your comment about the flooding was a concern I had before taking it on, now the floods have been & gone, the place did flood, just the bottom fields only though & nowhere near the buildings & the new aviaries. (Thank God )

Now I have personally witnessed the worse floods seen for years, I have now planned around this just in case it re-occurs, best be on the safe side.

When Tewkesbury was under flood, the farm land was bone dry, when the water re-ceded it back washed the bottom fields but only for 2 days. The surrounding area looked awesome & very picturesque.