Barn Owl

Spent the weekend (early mornings and then evenings) owl watching. Most of the action was too far away. Both Long Eared Owls and Barn Owls. Only got a few Barn Owl pics to share.

All taken with the K5 and Sigma 150-500. ISO varying between 1250 and 2000.



Barn owl in flight by Blythman1960, on Flickr



Barn owl by Blythman1960, on Flickr



Hunting Barn owl by Blythman1960, on Flickr

Very nice Alan, last one is great.

Lovely shots Alan and as Mike said the last one is great.

Alan - when was there the most action ? Mornings or Evenings ? I'm guessing the latter but was there a behavioural change too ?

1 and 3 for me, great shots

Paul

Thanks for comments folks

Kevin. I wasn't able to get through the week. During that time there was a lot of action through the day, co-inciding with the vast amounts of rain we've had. The Long Eared were still active at midday. Friday night was the first dry night for some time. And Saturday morning I saw no Long Eared Owl activity, but saw quite a bit of Barn owls for 1 hour after dawn. Saturday night I saw some Long Eared activity, but very far away, and they weren't in a hurry to start hunting. Barn owls waited until light was too poor to photograph.

Sunday morning, I got my pictures. Barn Owls were busy for 2 hours after dawn. Again I saw no Long Eared. Sunday night got a glimpse of a Long Eared backside in good light. As for the Barn owls. I managed to locate the nest box. Although it was a long way off, I could see them at times delivering a vast amount of voles and in good light. But nothing close in to photograph.

So their behaviour is very much weather dependent. If it rains at night they'll be more active during the day.

If it rains tonight, I might see if I can get a couple of hours tomorrow AM before work

Interesting and important owling information !

Unlike short eared owls which regularly hunt through the day, both these birds are nocturnal. But when you've got kids to feed ..........

The third image is one to be proud of, well done that man a stunner.

Hi Alan,

my wife and I continue to be bowled over by your wildlife photos. The owls are really excellent, not least because most of us so rarely see them in the wild like this.

We're off to Northumbria (Craster) for a week from the end of August. I don't have your big Sigma telephoto, yet) but certainly motivated. Should we actually be hoping for rain to see such a sight when it stops? I could be in trouble wanting such for a holiday!

Ha Ha Bill, thanks for the compliment - much appreciated. The young uns will be long gone by then I reckon, so an adult bird will be able to have a night off.

I went to Trotters in the lakes last August. They had a bird of prey display, including a Barn Owl. There were two shows a day. The Barn Owl wasn't flown to get food from the hand. It was just allowed to forage for itself, hunting in the field margins.

I went back the next afternoon to try and grab some more pics. Unfortunately the Barn Owl had hunted so successfully at the previous show, it was deemed unfit to fly, and would be for the next two days.

So, just pray for sunshine and get what you can. Hope you have a great time, and get some stunning pictures of the local area.

1 and 3 are my favourites

Very nice

Proof that you are more patient than I am