Snow in late April :Little owl

[dennis greenwood]

I have always wanted to get the oportunity of photographing the Littl owl in snow, normaly i have to try in winter but a crazy couple of days in the last days of April gave me the chance.
To be honest once i was set up i was not holding out much hope that the bird would venture out ,i was happy wrapped up and dry in the hide and watching the conditions around me ,luckily the bird made a show ,totoaly wild and free bird with no bait for this shot....Canon 1d mkiv 300mm f4 at f4 iso 1250 1/80 sec 161738

[Lorant Voros]

Nice that a dream came true here for you. I like the winter feel and the nice perch. I'd go tighter with a less square vertical crop. TFS.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot Dennis, great to get one in the snow, the owl is still sharp and you have excellent eye contact, your modest shutter speed has really shown the snow to good effect also.

[John Robinson]

This picture is really something Den,- and I love it ! The snow obviously makes it , but the perch iis good too. Another one of your best. I reckon a vertical crop or even one with the bird biased left or right on a landscape. Several choices.
Well done. This one is a seller without doubt.
Checked mine tonight but this weather is messing everything up.
Cheers
John

[christopher galeski]

nice one Dennis,love the snow,good eye contact,agre with Lorant about tighter crop.TFS.

[keith mitchell]

Your perseverance certainly paid off on this on Dennis,great pose and the falling snow really makes it.

Keith.

[dennis greenwood]

Same night didfferent pose 161750

[Richard Flack]

Awesome images Dennis, love the first one. The excellent eye contact and snow conditions make it a fantastic image, well done. I could also see a more vertical or portrait composition looking great.

[dennis greenwood]

This picture is really something Den,- and I love it ! The snow obviously makes it , but the perch iis good too. Another one of your best. I reckon a vertical crop or even one with the bird biased left or right on a landscape. Several choices.
Well done. This one is a seller without doubt.
Checked mine tonight but this weather is messing everything up.
Cheers
John

Thanks John ,with me visiting my site every day of the year ,i am alert to how the birds are getting on,as you are aware John the birds never leave there territory so its not a case of them returning as they are always there or abouts somewere,the weather this year as been strange as my pair met up a week earler than last year ,the weather was milder but this last week the cold snap as lasted a good week and to me thats not good ,luckily the forecast is for better especialy temperature wise ,these snow shots were not just a quick flurry ,we actualy had 36 hours of it ,these shots are at the the end of the snow and i was sat in the hide for two hours and to be honest i was not holding out for much ,more a case of just hoping to spot the male ,what i did notice is how the changed the way he was flying ,almost flying around the driving snow to find a landing spot ,something to add to my list of firsts in my observation of them ...good luck with yours this year

[Graham Wilkes]

Both are first class, the driving snow really sets off these images, also the perch and background are very complimentary.
I agree that a vertical crop would look good especially on original post, a magazine cover for sure.

Graham.

[Bill Dix]

Worth waiting for. Good choice of shutter speed to catch the snow so well. I could also see a vertical on the first image, but also great as posted.