Autumn Owls

JohnDC

After a summer of temperatures topping 110-120 deg F daily in the Salton Sea area of California, there was finally a break on the Columbus Day weekend. I made a quick trip. The big flocks of migratory snow geese hadn't arrived yet, but the resident burrowing owls were doing their thing.

1. After getting used to my approach, some owls just stood and posed.

B owl Fall sm.jpg


2. Others saw me coming and crouched behind the dirt ridge--just like a cat.




3. When the light faded, I had to use fill-flash. The neapolitan ice cream background is a strawberry sky, blueberry mountains, and moist chocolate earth. OK... for the detail people, there was no vanilla anything, and the mountains' real name is the Chocolate Mountains http://encarta.msn.com/map_701531098/Chocolate_Mountains.html

Maestro

First one is fantastic with nice light. For some reason I can't see your others.

Ric Grupe

Good one!

Now lets see the others.

Now I see the rest. Very nice.

Shelleyk

Beautiful shot! Great DOF!

raptorcaptor

Only seeing the first photo John. Beautifull shot! Felicia and I are finally planning a trip to Salton sea over the Holiday break. I've decided not to bring my kayak though.:D

JohnDC

raptorcaptor wrote:

Only seeing the first photo John. Beautifull shot! Felicia and I are finally planning a trip to Salton sea over the Holiday break. I've decided not to bring my kayak though.:D

I've had this perpetual problem linking to Pbase. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't. Some people can see the photos; others can't. Maybe it's fixed now. Maybe it's time to switch to SmugMug.

I was at the Salton Sea last year just after Thanksgiving. The place was thick with thousands (probably tens of thousands) of white pelicans and snow geese, along with the cormorants, burrowing owls, etc.--Bosque del Imperial Valley.

kdog

Stunning shots, John.

I definitely need to get back down there soon.

Cheers,
-joel

riddim_maker

The second one had me
That's such a cute shot, but they're all great John
I'll probably be out there in between jobs in a couple of weeks
and hope to see these little guys again.

dbaker1221

john...those are awesome captures ...well done:ivar

jwear

all very well done John great job

PrescottPhotog

JohnDC wrote:

After a summer of temperatures topping 110-120 deg F

Great shots John, #2 is my favorite.. what a catch..

Harv

I love them. Absolutely stunning images. Well done.

dallas

Excellent John, I discovered they are not so easy to photograph even after you find them. Great detail, and exposure.

ehughes

Great shots.... love the 2nd one...

JohnDC

dallas wrote:

Excellent John, I discovered they are not so easy to photograph even after you find them. Great detail, and exposure.

Thanks, Dallas. It takes some patience. Some of the owls are more skittish than others, but if you move slowly and not aggressively, some will ignore you after a while. A lot of them ignore me so much that I have to make little mousy sounds by sucking air between my teeth to get the owls to look in my direction. It also helps to cover your face with a curtain or your camera the full time.

JohnDC

Harv wrote:

I love them. Absolutely stunning images. Well done.

Thanks, Harv. Do I get a Vizsla pup as a reward? I'm suffering from severe pet deprivation right now, and they look like great dogs.

JohnDC

kdog wrote:

Stunning shots, John.

I definitely need to get back down there soon.

Cheers,
-joel

Thanks very much, Joel. Let me know when you're going, and I'll send you the latest version of that info I put together. Regards --- John

JohnDC

PrescottPhotog wrote:

Great shots John, #2 is my favorite.. what a catch..

Chris --- Thanks very much. --- John

Harv

JohnDC wrote:

Thanks, Harv. Do I get a Vizsla pup as a reward? I'm suffering from severe pet deprivation right now, and they look like great dogs.

As much as I'm sure you'd give one of our pups a great home, you'd have to do a lot more than post some great pics to get one.