I think these may be a box-check for my bucket list ! 8-) .......I must say, prior to this, I have NO Owl images in the wild - and I have been looking a L-O-N-G time 8-(

We went out the other day scouting some new shooting venues. We pulled into the parking area of a remote trailhead about 10 A.M. (cameras in the trunk). I walked about 40 yards on the trail and heard what I thought was an Owl - then I saw it fly in front of me- and KNEW it was an Owl ! - It flew to the other side of the small river and landed in a large pine tree ( we rushed to get our cameras OUT - I had elected to bring my Sony A77II with Minolta 500 AF Reflex lens for longer ranges - like THIS - and grabbed my monopod also.

We took some shots across the river (#1) and THEN, the Owl came flying back to the tree he first flew out of - AND - he was now much closer ! So, we got some more shots ! All the while, I could tell the Owl was somewhat disturbed and , I thought, unusual that he would come back to THIS tree.

About this time, a guy pulls into the parking area and gets out with his DOG and proceeds to come towards where we (and the Owl) are - the owl sees the DOG and (of course) takes off - again to the other side of the river. We speak with the guy briefly and I begin to hear strange sounds coming from the Owl across the river - I look and see #3 which I now interpreted to be an injured decoy behavior for the protection of a young one ! We get the guy and the DOG to LEAVE ! - and start looking for a nest or young one and find #4 - took some shots and decided to leave and let nature take it's course .

These were all challenging shots most @ ISO 1600 and large crops shot as JPEG and PP in Elements 9.

..

I think these may be a box-check for my bucket list ! 8-) .......I must say, prior to this, I have NO Owl images in the wild - and I have been looking a L-O-N-G time 8-(

We went out the other day scouting some new shooting venues. We pulled into the parking area of a remote trailhead about 10 A.M. (cameras in the trunk). I walked about 40 yards on the trail and heard what I thought was an Owl - then I saw it fly in front of me- and KNEW it was an Owl ! - It flew to the other side of the small river and landed in a large pine tree ( we rushed to get our cameras OUT - I had elected to bring my Sony A77II with Minolta 500 AF Reflex lens for longer ranges - like THIS - and grabbed my monopod also.

We took some shots across the river (#1) and THEN, the Owl came flying back to the tree he first flew out of - AND - he was now much closer ! So, we got some more shots ! All the while, I could tell the Owl was somewhat disturbed and , I thought, unusual that he would come back to THIS tree.

About this time, a guy pulls into the parking area and gets out with his DOG and proceeds to come towards where we (and the Owl) are - the owl sees the DOG and (of course) takes off - again to the other side of the river. We speak with the guy briefly and I begin to hear strange sounds coming from the Owl across the river - I look and see #3 which I now interpreted to be an injured decoy behavior for the protection of a young one ! We get the guy and the DOG to LEAVE ! - and start looking for a nest or young one and find #4 - took some shots and decided to leave and let nature take it's course .

These were all challenging shots most @ ISO 1600 and large crops shot as JPEG and PP in Elements 9.

..