My new Barn Owl site seems to be living up to expectations. The birds are quite brazen living as they do next to a caravan park. This bird surprised me by landing on this post 15 yards away. Shame about the post, not that rustic looking but I’ll take what comes at the moment. I have cloned out a piece of grass which stuck up from its head like an aerial.
Bob.
Tech:
50D
600mm + 1.4 TC
ISO 320
1/400 at f 7.1
Tripod
Posted by Ian Cook on February 19, 2009 at 1:55 PM
excellent :) can never get bored of Owls :) wish i had such co operative Barn Owls so close to me !
Posted by Tom Smit on February 19, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Great shot.
Post does not bother me. It's part of the environment.
And without post he would fall
Posted by Rob Howard on February 19, 2009 at 3:15 PM
Hi Bob,
Thats a damn fine portrait! Not sure if the colour balance is right though, parts of her plumage look purple . Have a play with the colour balance. Also looks like it could handle another couple of rounds of USM. I'm sure she and her mate will give you a fantastic summer!!
You are right about the purple plumage Rob , thats pretty much how it came out of the raw , it looks right now I have taken it out ?.Is the bird male or female , it is the darker one of the two that fly the site , the other one looks white when seen at distance , the same is true of the other pair I look at . Are the males darker than the females ?.
Andrew , the site is private as is the land I shoot the pix on , the owner is a frend of a frend.
Bob.
Posted by Rob Howard on February 19, 2009 at 5:03 PM
Hi Bob,
This is a Female, Female's predominately have darker plumage than the Male's and Females have spots on their flanks and chest, males do not. Some females can be very dark and some males can be very light, so ID is easy, others are a bit closer in plumage, but once you know what you are looking for and can seem them up close then it's easy to ID them.
Also when they start their breeding season and they choose a nest site, you will see the pair doing some bonding (stay a good distance from the nest) this will include dual preening and head bobbing, this will normally be followed by copulation, not for fertilisation but for strengthening the bond between them, they will continue to hunt apart for a while, then the female will start to spend more time at the nest site, relying on the male to bring all her food, when she is happy that he is bringing in enough food for her, this stimulates her egg production and she becomes commited to the nest and the mating is now to fertilise eggs. The female now will only leave the box for very short periods, to wing stretch and then get back on her eggs, she wont start hunting again until the young are old enough to keep themselves warm, so in spring and early summer you will only be seeing the male out hunting.
A brilliant book to get is The Barn Owl by Colin Shawyer
Thanks for that Rob, one of the sites I visit , the box in a barn is tended by a mate of mine so I do get a chance to see the chicks , ugly when small but soon change . Thanks again, Bob.
Posted by Rob Howard on February 19, 2009 at 5:31 PM
Without giving to much away, what area of the UK are you in Bob? If you are in Suffolk, I monitor a lot of boxes in west Suffolk
Regards
Rob
Posted by Ian Mason on February 19, 2009 at 5:48 PM
Gorgeous! I like the grasses too. I agree about the colours.
Hi Rob , I live out on the Essex marshes , drainage ditches , flat fields and not to many people. All the usual waders and water foul but not to rich in small things . Little owls are quite common if you have acsses to the land , I have six sites within a mile or two . The local barn owl box guy has six or more within a mile or two.Most of the land is down to rape and corn , the hedges are cut low , not the best of places for wild life but there are foxes , badgers and the odd glimps of a weasle . If you spend all day on the sea wall there are pleanty of birds to see but getting close is not so easy as there is little cover. At the moment the owles keep me ocupied .
Bob.
Posted by Rob Howard on February 19, 2009 at 6:13 PM
Hi Bob,
Do you know if your local Barn Owl guy is David Wilkin?? He looks after all the boxes in the Clacton area, and is a good mate of mine
A very nice owl on a stick image or should I say post the colourr cast can easily be corrected.
Phil.
Posted by David Sewell on February 20, 2009 at 10:23 AM
The post does not worry me either, it looks well weathered in and "natural". I agree with Rob about the colour balance, but it looks perfectly sharp to me already.
David
Posted by Graham Goddard on February 21, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Super shot and nits covered already
It's great to see these birds doing well in my home county.
Posted by Nigel Blake on February 22, 2009 at 4:25 AM
Discussion
17 repliesBob.
Tech:
50D
600mm + 1.4 TC
ISO 320
1/400 at f 7.1
Tripod
Post does not bother me. It's part of the environment.
And without post he would fall
Thats a damn fine portrait! Not sure if the colour balance is right though, parts of her plumage look purple
Regards
Rob
Do you know what's the caravan site?
Andrew , the site is private as is the land I shoot the pix on , the owner is a frend of a frend.
Bob.
This is a Female, Female's predominately have darker plumage than the Male's and Females have spots on their flanks and chest, males do not. Some females can be very dark and some males can be very light, so ID is easy, others are a bit closer in plumage, but once you know what you are looking for and can seem them up close then it's easy to ID them.
Also when they start their breeding season and they choose a nest site, you will see the pair doing some bonding (stay a good distance from the nest) this will include dual preening and head bobbing, this will normally be followed by copulation, not for fertilisation but for strengthening the bond between them, they will continue to hunt apart for a while, then the female will start to spend more time at the nest site, relying on the male to bring all her food, when she is happy that he is bringing in enough food for her, this stimulates her egg production and she becomes commited to the nest and the mating is now to fertilise eggs. The female now will only leave the box for very short periods, to wing stretch and then get back on her eggs, she wont start hunting again until the young are old enough to keep themselves warm, so in spring and early summer you will only be seeing the male out hunting.
A brilliant book to get is The Barn Owl by Colin Shawyer
Hope that helps
Regards
Rob
Regards
Rob
Bob.
Do you know if your local Barn Owl guy is David Wilkin?? He looks after all the boxes in the Clacton area, and is a good mate of mine
Regards
Rob
Bob.
Phil.
David
It's great to see these birds doing well in my home county.