Long-eared owl (c)

I loved the way this bird changed the second it was given a mouse. One moment it was placid, the next moment it was alert, the 'ears' went down, and it dared anyone to relieve it of it's prize.

One question though, does the background look wrong? I always associate this species with conifers, although thinking back all the few I have seen have been in deciduous trees, usually hawthorn. I also read that they regularly hunt in open farmland, so presumably this background isn't too wrong. So where have I got the conifer idea from? Is it from looking at too many other captive shots?

Thanks for looking.

David

Nikon D200, 300mm f2.8, 1600 iso, 1/320th @ f4.5

Looks great! I have only seen them once and the background was very similar to this - they were nesting in a small copse of conifers and there was a new plantation of conifers next to that. The hint of green in the background coveys the same to me.

Hi David,

excellent shot the background looks fine to me as the last time I saw one it was in a bush asleep

Only slight niggle is the strand of grass going over the tail

Lovely shot David. Bags of detail. I have only seen one before (the same one as Ian) which was in amongst hedging/bushes. The BG looks fine to me though. Compliments the subject nicely. Agree about the OOF stem though.

Great eye contact lovely image

A great capture, best not to argue with him
Well done.

Geoff.

I think the location these are found depends on the time of year.

We have a breeding pair on the Berkshire(Oxon Downs) which are in a small/remnant spinney of scots pine deep in farmland. Where as the Coninental overwintering birds I have seen the roosts have been associated with water and low hedges - Fishers Green, Herts "that island" and Cotswold Water Park, Glos. in a hawthorn hedge.

Next step is to get a wild one

use to see one of these regularly a few years ago. I would sit on a fence post with just this sort of background. I could never get a picture though

Fabulous image

Minor nit covered but otherwise a beautiful image, David. The background works fine and the eye contact is great. Well done.

Nicely handled David and this is always a good 'location' for this particular bird to be photographed. The muted BG colours tone well with the colour of the owl. I might suggest looking at removing that blade of grass running over the tail feathers and the small green 'blobs' in the BG running parallel to the right of the head, easy to do and less distracting IMHO.

Trust you had fun there

TFS
Steve

Very dramatic pose David. I have only ever seen one of these and that was a long time ago, deep in a very large conifer plantation so I too have a tendency to think of them as birds of the darker woods.

Hi David

The BG looks fine and nicely presented. That said LEO are highly nocturnal and do not hunt during the day like SEO and Barn Owl so if you are looking for a natural shot this would be best taken at night with flash or in a thicket during the day without the mouse.

Still a nice image.

David

Hi a nice image the background looks fine, thou I will have to disagree with Dave K, as the pair that have bread about 500 yards from where I live, I have regularly seen them hunting most of the summer 3ish AM to 5:30 ish AM on the golf course and surrounding area,although some may not class it as daytime it was certainly light.

Phil.

A lovely image in my opinion, BG looks fine, except for the grass through the tail. All said, a fine image!
Paul.