Dancing in the Rain, Burrowing Owl

[Loi Nguyen]

A huge storm is going to hit Southern California tonight, so I thought it is appropriate for me to post another of my favorite images of a Burrowing owl dancing in the rain. Taken this past August when a distant hurricane brought a few rain drops to drought stricken Salton Sea, California. To our amazement, all of the owls were dancing and bathing. Once can read about this behavior, but it was amazing to witness it. They did not care the least about us.

1DX
500f4 II + 1.4X III
1/1000
f5.6
ISO-3200
BLURB Bean bag over car window

Thank you for your comments.

Loi

[arash_hazeghi]

love the eye contact with dilated pupils. he is ready for the storm. good details, I only wish there was more separation between him and the stuff on the ground immediately behind the owl

[christopher galeski]

nice capture,love them eyes,like the ruffled pose,TFS.

[WillieHall]

nice comments on behavior, appreciate that, been looking all summer and fall for these elusive owls. You caught unique action!

[gail bisson]

I love this one Loi!
It has wonderful pose, excellent IQ, good POV and the direct gaze is perfect.
I really like the rocky FG.
Good one!
Gail

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent eye contact and pose. Rain droplets add interest.

[Iain Barker]

Wow those eyes are great Loi. I really like this and think the rain adds something extra.

[keith mitchell]

Loi great stare and a smashing pose makes this for me, rain drops are a bonus.

Keith.

[Bill Dix]

Nice one, Loi. Great eyes, rain drops, and action. I agree with Arash's comments about the near background, which could probably be fixed with a little selective blurring if you were so inclined.

[Grace Scalzo]

Really cute! No one else has mentioned this, but I keep doing a browser scroll and am wondering what the strip of blue is adding ? Maybe try recomposing without it and see what you think.

[David Salem]

Lots of good suggestions to improve an already nice image. I also like Grace's thought on removing the blue as I don't think it adds anything.
Good luck Sunday morning with these guys and maybe I will see you in the pm. Nice work.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Loi, great eye contact, and love the small raised wings. Good detail on the owl, and sharp where it counts.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I think this is my favorite of the "dancing in the rain" series you've posted. I love the pose and the diluted pupils. I'm OK with the blue-gray strip above, but I would toned down the dark spot underneath that.