Northern Pygmy Owl

[gail bisson]

Your dose of cuteness for the day and maybe even for the week!
These sweet little owls are the size of a man's fist when all balled up but when they see something interesting they will stretch out and the eyebrows will pop out.They then look like a miniature great horned owl!
Canon 1 DX
600mm and 1.4 x
ISO 1250 SS 1/320 F 5.6
Full frame vertical crop from landscape orientation.
PP : LR, levels , NR to BG and cloned out a small OOF branch on bottom border.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Isaac Grant]

Not fair! Just not fair. Love this Gail. Great eye contact, great perch and a beautiful background. Congrats.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Amazing shot. I hope to see one in wild let alone photograph them. Nice eye contact. Thanks for sharing them

[Lorant Voros]

Can it get any better than this? Very, very nice!

[Noel Heustis]

Wow Gail! Amazing detail in every part of that subject. I love this BG, the eye contact, and the soft light. Absolutely beautiful.

[John Mack]

Looks like a sweet little fluffed up ball on feathers. Great detail love the eye contact and the color.

[keith mitchell]

Gail just wonderful,cannot see anyway that this could be improved,inspiration to us all.

Keith.

[Dorian Anderson]

Sweet detail on this little guy. I've seen these birding many times but never in a photo-worthwhile
setting. Nicely done....

[annmpacheco]

Gail,
shaking my head and jumpin up and down for you, this is superb or shall i say SUPERB-OWL!!! IQ is tops and that owl is definitely looking straight at ya! Go Gail

[arash_hazeghi]

Not fair and you are making me jealous with this shot. I want the pygmy so bad, I'd just clone out the little branch right below the talons

TFS

[David Salem]

Holy crap Gail!! Where did you come up with that!! What a beauty of a shot. Love the direct stare, great BG, awesome details and the cool perch. Got love that one! Might make a nice print:S3: Well done

[Bill Dix]

This is just amazing. For starters, I can't imagine how you got so close to this little critter. Everything about the shot is perfection. I was so taken by the owl that I didn't notice the little branch below the talons. Either way it's superb!

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful image Gail! I like the eye contact, complimentary BG, composition, IQ and reflection of the trees in the pupils is cool.

[Mike Poole]

Thats Gorgeous Gail! He's even out-cuted the burrowing owls - those eyes are stunning! Got to be happy with this one!

Mike

[Allen Sparks]

Wow Gail! What a killer image! Cuteness overload for sure. Congrats!
Allen

[Alex Becker]

Wow! What more to add here. I'm 50/50 with the bottom branch, either way like Bill I was so taken with the owl I didn't even notice it at first. Great details, BG, love the eyes. I woudl love to get a frame like this. TFS