Barn Owl in Flight

[grumpybadger]

I've got several pictures of owls in flight from various bird of prey centres but always felt it would be nice to have one in darkness like owls "should" be.

Our local raptor centre ran a twilight into night flying session about 4 weeks ago and I've only just got round to sorting the pictures. It was a freezing cold evening but the experience was awesome.

I've got some others I'll try to put up shortly but the first is the last of the evening. A barn owl, called Ruddles, in flight.

http://www.beastall.com/tp/barn_owl.jpg

Canon 1D MkII with 550EX. Only post processing is a touch of levels and the cloning out of the jessies on the legs to try and make it look wild!

Paul

[busterboy]

Shooting these in daylight is hard so this is a great effort..:)

[CT]

Superb shot- makes me green with envy. Theoretically the very short flash duration at night should really help to freeze the movement.

How the Hell did you focus?

[paulc]

beautiful shot..full of envy too!!

[Forbiddenbiker]

I can't imagine how difficult that would be, fabulous shot in daylight let alone at night. :lol:

:clap: :clap:

Tell us how you did it. :)

[Jucklebutt]

:thumbs: That's lovely :)

[IanC_UK]

no im not jealous and i dont hate you at all ;)

I normally see Barn Owls flying in summer early evening light, not total darkness, thats the only thing i may do different if it was me, but its a great shot and considering the light, focus is spot on :)

[CT]

I remember an old 'Amateur Photographer' article years ago, where this guy had found a barn owls nest inside an old church belfry. He rigged up a permanent camera setup in the bell tower between the owls entrance point to the tower and the nest with an infra red beam shutter trigger and just left it in situ. I seem to remember he was using infra red flash but can't be sure now.

He got some absolutely stunning pin sharp shots of the owl entering in flight with voles and all sorts in it's mouth for the young.

[IanC_UK]

probably wouldnt get away with that now, as they are schedule 1 birds arent they ? i know me peregrines are schedule 1 so not allowed to disturb the nest at all.

[CT]

Yep - they are Ian.

Full list of Schedule 1 birds:-

Schedule 1 Birds

Part 1

Birds protected by special penalties at all times.
Birds marked with * were Schedule 4 species until 24 May 1994, when a new Schedule 4 (http://www.naturenet.net/law/sched4.html) was produced.

*Avocet
*Bee-eater
*Bittern
*Bittern, little
*Bluethroat
Brambling
*Bunting, cirl
*Bunting, Lapland
*Bunting, snow
*Buzzard, honey
Capercaillie (in Scotland - see note below)
*Chough
*Corncrake
*Crake, spotted
*Crossbill (all species)
*Curlew, stone
*Diver (all species)
Dotterel
*Duck, long-tailed
*Eagle, golden
*Eagle, white-tailed
*Falcon, gyr
*Fieldfare
*Firecrest
Garganey
*Godwit, black-tailed
*Goshawk
*Grebe, black-necked
*Grebe, Slavonian
*Greenshank
Gull, little
Gull, Mediterranean
*Harriers (all species)
Heron, purple
*Hobby
*Hoopoe
*Kingfisher
*Kite, red
*Merlin
*Oriole, golden
*Osprey
Owl, barn
Owl, snowy
*Peregrine
*Petrel, Leach's
*Phalarope, red-necked
*Plover, Kentish
*Plover, little ringed
*Quail, common
*Redstart, black
*Redwing
*Rosefinch, scarlet
*Ruff
*Sandpiper, green
*Sandpiper, purple
*Sandpiper, wood
Scaup
*Scoter, common
*Scoter, velvet
*Serin
*Shorelark
*Shrike, red-backed
*Spoonbill
*Stilt, black-winged
*Stint, Temminck's
Swan, Bewick's
Swan, whooper
*Tern, black
*Tern, little
*Tern, roseate
*Tit, bearded
*Tit, crested
*Treecreeper, short-toed
*Warbler, Cetti's
*Warbler, Dartford
*Warbler, marsh
*Warbler, Savi's
*Whimbrel
*Woodlark
*Wryneck Note on capercaillie

In 2001 an Amendment (Scotland) to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Scottish Statutory Instrument 2001 No. 337) moved capercaillie to Schedule 1 of the Act in Scotland and removed the species from Schedule 2. Capercaillie is only found in Scotland.
Schedule 1 Part II

Birds protected by special penalties during the close season which is 1 February to 31 August (21 February to 31August below high water mark) but which may be killed or taken outside this period.

Goldeneye
Greylag goose (in Outer Hebrides, Caithness, Sutherland, and Wester Ross only)
Pintail

[busterboy]

He rigged up a permanent camera setup in the bell tower between the owls entrance point to the tower and the nest with an infra red beam shutter trigger and just left it in situ.
He got some absolutely stunning pin sharp shots of the owl entering in flight with voles and all sorts in it's mouth for the young.


Great idea but the camera would probably get bloody knicked now Cedric.:bonk:

[CT]

Well it certainly would round here Tim! Things are probably a bit better for you guys in the sticks?

[grumpybadger]

I honestly can't remember which one finally worked. We tried some just before dark with the exposure set to -2EV and the flash set to compensate so that the background would disappear. I tried prefocusing on a couple and on some we had someone track the owl with a torch so that the AF could work. I think this was one of the early ones where it isn't actually as dark as it looks.

I'd really like to play with some of the remote shutter stuff. I have a friend who has been doing camera traps for water voles with great success. With an EOS500 film body going for £20 on Ebay, you can get cameras you can leave in woods or by rivers without too much worry.

I've got a bit cocky following the barn owl and the current project is bats. We have pipistrelles in the garden and Daubenton's on our local lake. Failing completely to get anything worthy at the moment but I will persevere...

Paul

[CT]

We get loads of Pipistrelles in the trees around us at night. So far I've had two extremely frustrating night vigils trying to capture something worthwhile, but the problems are immense in the dark, and they're so tiny with such fast and erratic flight patterns.

Good luck with your project, these are the best I've managed so far. :shrug:

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/530/bats.jpg

[Jo]

Great shot! I love barn owls :love:

We have one that breeds here every year, and she is flying around throughout the day at the moment, so that means she is feeding young right? I really should settle in ready for her one of these days.

CT we also have tons of bats, though I'm not sure which kind. I've only seen a glimpse of the little buggers when they zoom over my head :eek: . I think you did pretty good with those shots too considering!

[IanC_UK]

We have one that breeds here every year, and she is flying around throughout the day at the moment, so that means she is feeding young right? I really should settle in ready for her one of these days.

Hehehe my mum and dad live in Spalding, ill have to pop round next time im up there, get some pics ! :)

[Jo]

Hehe, sounds like a plan! ;)

[moomike]

Excellent shot Paul, spot on exposure & focus :clap:
Very nicely done :thumbs:

Agree with Jojo about your bat shots CT, you've definately done well with those - I just see slightly lighter than black blurs that move much much faster than the eye can follow!!