Barred Owl Pair

Yesterday afternoon during the golden hour I tried again to capture some image of the Barred Owl (Strix varia) living near the house, high atop a pine tree. It was cold and very windy. The wind was pulling the pine tree branches back away from the owls nest, which revealed that there are two owls high in that tree.

Look closely and you'll see the female sitting behind (below and to the left) the male.

The golden hour (called the magic hour in cinematography) is the first and last hour of sunlight during the day, when a diffuse and warm hue creates a unique photographic effect as sunlight travels through more atmosphere. . . reducing its intensity. 'Hour' is used loosely as the actual magic duration depends on location and time of year. Regardless, it is during that late afternoon time that I've had the best luck trying to get a shot of these owls from great distance.



ABOVE: The female leans out to see what the male is studying; ME. Their eyesight is incredible. He appears quite menacing when one blows up these photos to actual size and studies his glare.



ABOVE: The male moves over to hide the female.



ABOVE: A gust of wind catches the male's wings. From about 1/2 mile distant (800+ meters) I could see the male loose his balance and throw up his wings. I wasn't sure the camera would capture any of that activity from such a distance. I was pleased that it did.



ABOVE: Pulling the telephoto lens all the way out I begin to lose the subject. The center pine tree holds the owls. At the very top of the 60-to- 80-foot tall (18-24 meters) tree. . . their nest is situated in the tree's crown. With the naked eye I can only see a patch of lighter brown atop that tree. With a normal lens the pine trees begin to look like small toy trees.



ABOVE and BELOW: Digitally enhancing the photos does nothing for the resolution at this distance. Above = raw. Below = enhanced. I guess I need a longer lens. Something to consider for my birthday.