Burrowing Owls - Florida

FocusingOnFlorida

The FLorida Gators canceled a photo-shoot that they were hiring me to cover a few weeks ago, so I got a full Saturday to myself. I decided to take a 3 hour trip south of here to find me a burrowing owl. Here is what I finally ended up with.

John Mueller

Nice captures Russ.
Glad you found this place

Everyone is gone.Shooting down in your neck of the woods.

Jill Bazeley

Fabulous shots! What's the secret to finding them?

FocusingOnFlorida

John Mueller wrote:

Nice captures Russ.
Glad you found this place

Everyone is gone.Shooting down in your neck of the woods.

Thanks John.

So far this place looks like it is as friendly as PhotoCamel. I went back to DPR see chat with a few old friends and noticed not much has changed there.
:deadhorse and :fishand :beatwax and:tough I'm sure you know what I am talking about. Still some good people there as well.

I found a post in here about people coming to this area to shoot. It's definitely a good time of year to be here.

FocusingOnFlorida

Jill Bazeley wrote:

Fabulous shots! What's the secret to finding them?

I spent 2.5 years looking for them around here. Then I got the time to drive south were, through some research, I found that they have a denser population. I searched for a half a day then gave up. My son wanted to go fishing. I stopped by a fish store to get some rigs and was talking with the owner. He tipped me off to where a burrow was located. Luckily for me it was near a river that had a seawall for my son to fish from. I spent four hours watching the hole. Nothin' !!! The sun was setting and a truck pulled up next to the burrow. I thought well maybe he won't stay long. Next, a girl comes up and knew the burrow was there so is walking up to it and looking in. Now I'm about to give up. After fifteen minutes I started talking to her and told her I drove three hours just to photograph one of these beautiful birds. She them told me of another nest a thousand or so yards away and that the owls were out when she walked by. So with about 20 minutes to sunset, I got these shots. I didn't get back home until 9pm. It was worth it.

ShepsMom

Very nice shots. Sometimes i hear owls by my house, but i'm yet to capture them. I'll have to be really close to see the sharp details, but i dont find it possible with my lens. I'm looking for a macro or something that can do nice close up shots like yours

Jill Bazeley

FocusingOnFlorida wrote:

I spent 2.5 years looking for them around here. Then I got the time to drive south were, through some research, I found that they have a denser population. I searched for a half a day then gave up. My son wanted to go fishing. I stopped by a fish store to get some rigs and was talking with the owner. He tipped me off to where a burrow was located. Luckily for me it was near a river that had a seawall for my son to fish from. I spent four hours watching the hole. Nothin' !!! The sun was setting and a truck pulled up next to the burrow. I thought well maybe he won't stay long. Next, a girl comes up and knew the burrow was there so is walking up to it and looking in. Now I'm about to give up. After fifteen minutes I started talking to her and told her I drove three hours just to photograph one of these beautiful birds. She them told me of another nest a thousand or so yards away and that the owls were out when she walked by. So with about 20 minutes to sunset, I got these shots. I didn't get back home until 9pm. It was worth it.

Quite a story! Oh, and very funny choice of graphics. I'm with you - there's too much :thwak in the world!

FocusingOnFlorida

Thank you. I took these with the Canon 400mmL f/5.6. I am selling it now because I need the money for a good mid-range lens and I'm getting a backup 30d. Business is pushing me in another direction. I am planning on saving for the 600mmL F/4 one of these days. I have the 400mm list here in the "Flea Market" forum.

I know of a mating pair of Barred Owls I found last year. I am going to try to get back there this year and see if they nest in the same location.

Here are a few of the Babies from last year. I am going to try toget there later in the afternoon for better lighting. These were on a cloudy day so the sun was blocked or bight. I hate to use flash as it may cause stress. I'll include one of a parent I found as well. It was very difficult to shoot.

ShepsMom wrote:

Very nice shots. Sometimes i hear owls by my house, but i'm yet to capture them. I'll have to be really close to see the sharp details, but i dont find it possible with my lens. I'm looking for a macro or something that can do nice close up shots like yours

FocusingOnFlorida

Yeah, some of it can be entertaining, but too much can really get to a person after a while.

Jill Bazeley wrote:

Quite a story! Oh, and very funny choice of graphics. I'm with you - there's too much :thwak in the world!

BPCooper

The first set is great.

Awais Yaqub

welcome
loved them great photos

FocusingOnFlorida

Thank you Ben,

Much better lighting on the first series. I guess I could take the time to PP the second set a bit, but I like to get as much out of the original exposure as possible. There will be another opportunity.

BPCooper wrote:

The first set is great.

FocusingOnFlorida

Thank you Awais Yaqub,

I was privileged with the opportunity to visit your region of the world and was amazed how differently it was compared to they way I envisioned it in my mind. I never did get to your country, maybe someday. I wish peace for you, your country, and the countries of your region.

I look forward to seeing your photos as well.

Awais Yaqub wrote:

welcome
loved them great photos

Skippy

FocusingOnFlorida wrote:

The FLorida Gators canceled a photo-shoot that they were hiring me to cover a few weeks ago, so I got a full Saturday to myself. I decided to take a 3 hour trip south of here to find me a burrowing owl. Here is what I finally ended up with.

Those look great

Ohhhhhh if looks could kill you'd dead hehehe, don't ya just love the way they look at you as if to say you are in deep *hit trouble!!
Great series........ Skippy
.

FocusingOnFlorida

Skippy wrote:

Those look great

Ohhhhhh if looks could kill you'd dead hehehe, don't ya just love the way they look at you as if to say you are in deep *hit trouble!!
Great series........ Skippy
.

Thank you for the comments Skippy. Yeah the one on the left, in the shot of the pair, didn't care for me being there too much. I only spent about 15 minutes taking photos as I didn't want to cause undue stress.

dbaker1221

some really nice captures

Dee

Burrowing
I've seen some photographers in my area post burrowing owl photos, and finally managed to get the location of one nest. It was at Shoreline in Mountain View in the middle of Silicon Valley

At the time I didn't have a long lens, so my photos aren't worth posting. But they mean a lot to me because they were the very first burrowing owls I've ever seen in "real life."

Thanks for posting the "babies" they are so cute! And I like them in the tree too.

If you don't know exactly where the nest is, it can be very difficult to fine. I had an asphalt path and signs warning me not to get to close or disturb the nest, so it couldn't be easier to find -- IF one even knew there was a nest there. The location was kept pretty quiet.

You're lucky you found someone to point them out for you.

FocusingOnFlorida

dbaker1221 wrote:

some really nice captures

Thank you,

FocusingOnFlorida

By all means, please post your photos. You are more than welcome to post them here in this thread. Finding owls is a real challenge.

Dee wrote:

I've seen some photographers in my area post burrowing owl photos, and finally managed to get the location of one nest. It was at Shoreline in Mountain View in the middle of Silicon Valley

At the time I didn't have a long lens, so my photos aren't worth posting. But they mean a lot to me because they were the very first burrowing owls I've ever seen in "real life."

Thanks for posting the "babies" they are so cute! And I like them in the tree too.

If you don't know exactly where the nest is, it can be very difficult to fine. I had an asphalt path and signs warning me not to get to close or disturb the nest, so it couldn't be easier to find -- IF one even knew there was a nest there. The location was kept pretty quiet.

You're lucky you found someone to point them out for you.