A resident at the Center For Birds Of Prey. I am not sure how he was hurt but the center is his home now. One of the lucky ones.
Barn Owl, A Shoot At Birds Of Prey
Tag Archives: birds
The Bamboo Swamp, Owl
A few shots taken the other day of a Barred Owl.
He was a little wet from standing in shallows where they hunt for frogs and cray fish.
Each image is slightly different since light was shifting with the wind through the overhead bamboo canopy. ISO was very high.
Barred Owl, Swamp Light
Recently we made several trips to swamps that are darker and denser than our usual places. Getting light and working around the reflected colors is still a work in progress.
I have several days of Owl photographs to finish but I see it may be easier than I thought. Most can just be deleted after the first pass. Duplicates and color distortions are throughout the images.
This is the first photograph from the trips. Instead of hiding far out into the swamp this one was right on the edge hunting in shallow water.
Mating Display, Great Egret
The Great Egrets are in full display. The plumage and mating dance is like nothing else I have ever seen.
Each bird does the same ritual moves, but they all have their own moves. Which is probably why I have photographed this hundreds of times.
This image is the primary display of the breeding plumage. Stretching and dancing are also part of the display.
How could a little girl Egret resist.
Painted Bunting
As expected, every time we looked specifically for this bird…nothing. Not entirely true, several times we heard it and ‘maybe’ saw a flash of color.
Here I was hurrying to find a better vantage point to shoot some Wood Storks. I caught the colors by accident.
The male was alone and striping seeds from inside the grasses along the edge of the trail.
Since I was standing out in the open there was no option to get closer or more light. I followed rule # 1…get the shot.
Maybe a dozen quick shots and he was gone. Still this is more than I have had before.
Alligators, Open Flood Gate
The ‘trunk’, or flood gates, were opened to allow this section of a marsh to drain and clean out grasses. Of course it was also an opportunity to go fishing while the water rushed out.
It was very simple to stand on top of the dike and have the water drain underneath our feet. Directly below us was a congregation of Alligators like never before. No long lens here, only portrait or wide angle since it was so close.
The photograph above was taken at 50 mm, the same as with the naked eye. About 25 adults are in this image, the ones straight down were out of view.
The local wading birds were not about to be left out either.
Amazing but not a single Alligator went after another, a few scuffles, nothing else. More so was the birds. They poked around just barely out of reach. A few Alligators snapped, but not even trying really.
Anything in the streams on water was fair game though.
I did go to another vantage point with a long lens later on. All these images were shot between 35 – 70 mm. Basically at portrait length.