Owl - Crow - Wood Duck

PrescottPhotog

Hi Everyone,

The two GBH's were taken with the new FW (1.2.3) that Canon just released. I had some problems with it at first but seem to have worked those out (I hope).

Then a few days ago I went out and shot with something I have never used before, handheld with my 300mm + 2.0 extender attached. I have never had the 2.0 on my 300 before and didn't think I would get anything worth keeping. I got the Wood Duck and Crow, which turn out to be probably the best crow shot I have ever made (I'm terrible with black birds). The Wood Duck landed in front of me but didn't stay long when it figured out I was there.

Today I thought I would go see if I could get some shots of the GBH nest in the flooded woods I have mentioned. I put on my hip boots and headed into the swamp. It was very scary carrying all that equipment, pack and gear through the mud and muck up to my knees, not knowing if I was going to step in a big hole or fall on my butt stepping over lots of downed trees.

It was blowing absolutely sideways making it impossible to shoot through the branches to get the GBH and Cormorant nests. Then I looked up and saw Mrs. Hoot. The nest wasn't that big and I was amazed when this little guy popped out (from where I don't know). I don't know how they both are staying in this nest it is so small. I didn't stay long because I couldn't hold my camera steady even though I was shooting on a tripod, it was blowing that hard. The little guy has a lot of main feathers already so it won't be that long before he flies. I will try to get some better shots when the gale force winds die down (clouds and rain tomorrow they say).

Hope you like the shots..

#1 GBH

#2 GBH

#3 Crow

#4 Wood Duck

#5 Owl

#6 Owl

#7 Owl

#8 Owl

DonRicklin

I like the last four of the Great Horned owl and its owlet.

Nice shooting!

Don

bfjr

Hawk babies and now OWL Babies !!!! :wow

I don't like you no more :poke

but

I do like the shots

PrescottPhotog

DonRicklin wrote:

I like the last four of the Great Horned owl and its owlet.
Nice shooting! Don

Thanks for viewing and for the compliment Don.

PrescottPhotog

bfjr wrote:

Hawk babies and now OWL Babies !!!! :wow
I don't like you no more :poke but I do like the shots

Hi Ben.. Yes we have babies everywhere, the Cormorants and GBH nests are all over this woods but it is very hard to photo them because the trees are so thick.

But.. I have to make hay while the sunshines because in a month or so I will be shooting empty lakes because all the birds will be gone. I was really Jonesing last summer (no birds except a few wayward ducks) and the lakes were very low. This summer, with the lakes full it will be impossible to find a bird..:cry :cry so you guys will have to post all the pictures so I have something to look at..:photo

Ric Grupe

Nice group, Chris.

The detail on the GBH is excellent.

bhowdy

All are very nice Chris! The crow shot is excellent and the owl series are definite keepers!

spechtal

Very nice. I too like the crow. They are hard to photograph...at least I find it hard to get the nice detail that you got.

dbaker1221

fantastic shots Chris

raptorcaptor

Good set Chris! Like the owl shots, and also the detail in the crow bif!

PrescottPhotog

Ric Grupe wrote:

Nice group, Chris.

The detail on the GBH is excellent.

Thanks Ric.. I fought with the new FW upgrade for a whole week without a shot being in focus. I think I finally have things worked out (I hope.. )

PrescottPhotog

bhowdy wrote:

All are very nice Chris! The crow shot is excellent and the owl series are definite keepers!

Hi Bob.. Thanks for the compliments. I hope to get more shots of the owl but will have to don my hip boots to do it.
They didn't seem to mind if I was there though but they sure didn't like the Raven that kept buzzing the nest.

Ric Grupe

PrescottPhotog wrote:

FW upgrade

I'm drawing a blank here, Chris.

Firm Ware ?

PrescottPhotog

spechtal wrote:

Very nice. I too like the crow. They are hard to photograph...at least I find it hard to get the nice detail that you got.

Hi Angela, Thanks for the compliment. Crows and Snowy Egrets both ends of the spectrum are tough, but this one finally turned out pretty good.

PrescottPhotog

dbaker1221 wrote:

fantastic shots Chris

Hi Dave.. Thanks for the compliment and for viewing.

PrescottPhotog

raptorcaptor wrote:

Good set Chris! Like the owl shots, and also the detail in the crow bif!

Hi Glenn.. thanks for the compliment. I couldn't believe that the two of them were in the same nest. I didn't see it when I spotted the adult then when it popped out I was amazed. After a while it disappeared and I walked all the way around it and could not figure out where the little one was hiding unless mom was hiding it under her wing. You can see from shot #6 (ears and leaves) just how windy it was. I was worried the little one was going to blow off the nest when it was right on the edge.

PrescottPhotog

Ric Grupe wrote:

I'm drawing a blank here, Chris.
Firm Ware ?

Hi Ric.. Sorry for the abbreviation.. yes, firmware. Canon released a new version 1.2.3 and it took me about a week to get my shots back to where the previous version was, (1.1.3 was the previous and was great). Now it seems I have things worked out again.. I hope.

Giphsub

Great shots Chris! So they were handheld at 600??! Wow!

PrescottPhotog

Giphsub wrote:

Great shots Chris! So they were handheld at 600??! Wow!

Hi Mike, Thanks for the compliment. Yes they were handheld at 600 mm but the 300 with 2.0 extender (on the crow and duck only) is a lot lighter than the 600 mm Canon canon. The GBH was handheld with 500 mm no extender. Ya can't hold it for very long but it's sweet for hitting the BIF's.

Giphsub

Nice, the Bigma isn't too easy to handhold at all!

Maestro

This one got past me too. Very nice images of owlets. It looks like the owls and red tailed hawks use the same material for nest building. The other images are good too but I really like the owls.