The 'early bird'...

[Steve Kaluski]

After a year and a half I manage to track down my Little owls, this pair I am sure are the owlets from the parents I used to photograph. I am hoping she has, or will be laying eggs soon, but as she does not always sit on the nest all the time during incubation it's difficult to tell. Still keeping a good distance, after about 3 days they began to tolerate my presence, albeit in a blind surrounded by hay bales, (I have a very accommodating farmer). I limit the amount of times I reposition my location and move only when they have left the tree, generally towards midday or the later part of the day, reducing any additional stress to them. This means I am fixed for the follow day(s), therefore light & timings are very mixed so I have to make the best of it, not ideal. I'm now leaving them for around 5 weeks in the hope they have a successful brood. Their location is in a very old Willow tree hit by lightening, they have grass, a small stream and ploughed field where they hunt, offering good pickings like this worm.

Steve
Subject: Little owl with worm (Athene noctua)
Location: UK
Camera: Canon 1DX
Lens: 500f/4 plus 2x
Exposure: 1/250s at f/10 ISO1600 +1 stop compensation

Not ideal using the 2x, but I want to keep my distance

[Marina Scarr]

Nice to read that you were able to find these owls! IQ looks very good. I use my 2x with my 500mm about 30% of the time and feel it's more than adequate. PP looks excellent (as usual) and like that he's munching on something that I am sure is yummy to him.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Steve, great background story, and thats one juicy worm he/she has. Good eye level perspective, and it does seem he/she is aware of you.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Steve - you've been holding out. Your field technique and patience really seem to have paid off. Excellent techs and pp as usual. I might apply just a little more sharpening to the head and the worm.

TFS,
Rachel

[Lyle Gruby]

I feel your pain with the hiding/keeping your distance/focal length quandary. IQ looks great, that is a heck of a worm he's found! I suppose the BG and the branch on the left side could be toned down a touch.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi folks, very much appreciate the feedback & comments.

In this instance Marina I felt I needed to expand on the location as a lot of time is sitting & waiting 8-10hrs for only a few minutes of action. Plus unlike most owls that hunt at night, these forage during the day thankfully. With variable light it does make shooting difficult as they move constantly and so ISO, EV, SS & aperture keep changing, but hey, fun!

Stu, this branch is about 3ft off the ground ideal if only he knew this.

Rachel as I only have FP in the centre, this is bang on the eye, the eye has detail, but surrounding is lacking a bit, trade off again with ISO/Ap/SS, really needed more ISO.

Might take a look Lyle, easy to do.

[Austin Thomas]

Good to see that you are getting your rewards Steve. They are incredibly addictive and worth every hour of time invested.

The quality of your image is spot on as always.

Cheers

Austin

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Steve, good action here with the worm. Tack sharp for a 2X at 1/250. I can see that the BG is not ideal here, but overall it s a great image.

[John Ippolito]

Hi Steve, nice details, processing, as always, and a meal to boot. Love the feather texture. You certainly didn't disturb his/her appetite...

[Steve Kaluski]

Hey Austin, not quite in the same League as your LO with their cracking BKG's but you know how difficult these location are, especially with light too. I'm sure we will be exchanging comments, but hopefully see some of your images too? BTW did you entree one of the Scottish Exhibitions, just saw one of your birds?

Cheers Loi & John, the male John is far more settle with me, she keeps a very good distance.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Steve, congrats on a cool shot of a little owl. The worm is a big bonus! Your patience did pay off, great techs as usual. He looks very much like our spotted owlet.