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Looking left before flying away...
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Coming back on the road at night after an excursion around Cairns in Australia, we met this barn owl standing on a post. I was able to get so close that the guide who was with us told me I was lucky not being part of his lunch ;-). The barn owl was always looking at me (see previous picture), then look left quickly and flew away seconds after this picture...
No flash was used as we put the truck lights as light source. The picture was originally taken with a regular SLR camera, so I do not have any aditionnal info about the speed, f-stop and film used. I did scan the picture but had to manually darkened the sky to make it look like the real picture as a lot of dirt/noise comes out of this picture while using the scanner.
Notes on the australian barn owl...
Location and Habitat
This type of Owl is among the most widespread, and well known bird worldwide. In Australia, though being found across the whole contentient it is more common in the east and south-west than in our hot and dry (arid) interior.
It is found in grasslands, farmlands and woodlands.
Description
Slim; upright posture. Its very distinctive face has small black eyes surrounded by a white Rounded heart-shaped facial mask. Its voice is a rasping screech.
Activities
Australian individuals seem more rigidly nocturnal and the bird is seldom seen despite its abundance. It lives alone or in pairs and seldom calls.
Feeding
It requires open country over which to hunt It feeds largely on mice, especially the House Mouse Because of a fringe of soft barbs under their wing feathers the Barn Owl makes no noise in flight, greatly improving its hunting capabilities.
Nesting & Breeding
It roosts in caves, sheds and barns, tree hollows, or densely foliaged trees. Breeding is very flexible in timing often relates to the availability of mice (feed) and the pair bond is temporary. Most nests are in large tree hollows. .They normally lay 3-4 eggs which take 5 weeks to hatch. The hatchlings are white and very fluffy Both the female and the male (later) help with the feeding of the young until the young "Fledge" in about 60 to 70 days
It was a nice meeting, I hope you'll like the picture too. |
cecilia, livios, alexbf has marked this note useful
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Nice profile capture...
- manyee
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3064 W: 231 N: 6159]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(21044) - [2005-11-06 13:37]
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I like that pose a lot, Stephen. Great POV and sharp details on the owl. The light is a bit harsh, but what could you do? You were so lucky to have had that encounter. Well done and TFS. : )
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- livios
(16906)
- [2005-11-06 17:56]
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Stephan, despite the technical difficulties, I like the shot.
Very nice pose and bg. Great details too.
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- alexbf (61)
- [2005-11-07 20:48]
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Wow! Je préfère celle-ci à ton autre du même hibou. Les détails sont superbes, compte tenu des conditions d'éclairage.
Quelle chance d'avoir pu voir cet animal dans son habitat naturel!
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 92 W: 10 N: 459]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-s-g.gif){kind=small}
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 479 W: 6 N: 1224]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif)
(4630)