OWL Landing

[Michael Stern]

Hi
This wonderful burrowing owl came in for a landing and eventually laid down on his belly with the wings fully spreadout on the sand in front of its burrow. Interesting posture, anyone know why they do this? Photo taken yesterday afternoon with the shutter speed: 1/2500 sec
Aperture: 5
Exposure mode: Av
Exposure compensation: -1
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Evaluative
ISO: 250
Lens: EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x
Focal length: 280mm

Comments / suggestions more than welcome !
Thank you for looking!
Michael

[Axel Hildebrandt]

The pose and angle are great. The light looks very harsh and the sand seems a bit overexposed. You could post an image at 800 pixels, which makes it easier to comment.

As for the behavior, I heard that some birds bask in the sun to get rid of mites. I'm interested what other people have to say about it.

[Harold Davis]

Not sure why they pose like that, but it does look pretty cool. would like to see it in a bigger pic. whatever the case, good to see you are back out shooting after the mishap:(

[Fabs Forns]

Great pose, Michael, the light is working against you here, strong and from behind. Axel's explanation of behavior sounds good to me.

[Arthur Morris]

I like the behavior and the light coming through the wings, but the background and the foreground sand are both extremely distracting.