Poised For Flight
Last year my wife and I had an owl nest box installed on our property. We did it for rodent control, and because we like birds, and hoped we would get to see some owls. Within 10 days of installing the box we had a pair of Barn owls move in, and in not too much time, a pair of young owls was born in the box.
This year another pair of owls was hatched in the box, and in the last month, my wife and I have had the pleasure of watching the young owls come out of the box every evening, and finally learn to fly and hunt for themselves. The young owls are pretty entertaining too watch, because, although they appear to be full grown, they are not that coordinated, or accustomed to flying.
In all the time we've had owls living here, I've never used a flash to photograph them because I was afraid of disturbing them. These young owls are very used to seeing us, because we go out every evening at dusk to watch them, and I read on the net from someone that had an owl house with a web cam, that the birds are not bothered by lights. So, I thought, "what the hell" and put a flash on a light stand outside tonight and took a few pictures. In this picture the young owl has come out of the box and is just seconds away from flying off. The owls did not give any indication of being upset, so I think it's OK. Also, I'm really happy to finally have some decent pictures of them, because in a small way we feel like they're family.
I'm also happy to report, that the owls have done an amazing job on rodent control. We, and my neighbors, have witnessed an astonishing decline in the local rodent population.
Strobist info: One SB600 on a lightstand in TTL mode. Strobe triggered by pop up flash on my D90 in commander mode.
I've put together a small set of pictures relating to the owls. Here's a link to that set www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157630045851110/...
Poised For Flight
Last year my wife and I had an owl nest box installed on our property. We did it for rodent control, and because we like birds, and hoped we would get to see some owls. Within 10 days of installing the box we had a pair of Barn owls move in, and in not too much time, a pair of young owls was born in the box.
This year another pair of owls was hatched in the box, and in the last month, my wife and I have had the pleasure of watching the young owls come out of the box every evening, and finally learn to fly and hunt for themselves. The young owls are pretty entertaining too watch, because, although they appear to be full grown, they are not that coordinated, or accustomed to flying.
In all the time we've had owls living here, I've never used a flash to photograph them because I was afraid of disturbing them. These young owls are very used to seeing us, because we go out every evening at dusk to watch them, and I read on the net from someone that had an owl house with a web cam, that the birds are not bothered by lights. So, I thought, "what the hell" and put a flash on a light stand outside tonight and took a few pictures. In this picture the young owl has come out of the box and is just seconds away from flying off. The owls did not give any indication of being upset, so I think it's OK. Also, I'm really happy to finally have some decent pictures of them, because in a small way we feel like they're family.
I'm also happy to report, that the owls have done an amazing job on rodent control. We, and my neighbors, have witnessed an astonishing decline in the local rodent population.
Strobist info: One SB600 on a lightstand in TTL mode. Strobe triggered by pop up flash on my D90 in commander mode.
I've put together a small set of pictures relating to the owls. Here's a link to that set www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157630045851110/...