Little owl and Worm Rework

[John Robinson]

Little owl with prey
Little Owl (Male)I tnink !
Pity the worms end is a bit soft but it just went back and forth like a pendulum when he landed. I waited and waited for it to steady but he was off to the chicks before it stopped swaying.
Been doing research with some colleagues on food items- one example of so called "useless results of bird photography " On our research pairs it seems so far that earth worms make up 50% of prey items but can change dramaticalli with wet or dry eather. DDry/humid + moths for example. Small mammals are a surprisingly small percentage of main food items. It appears but is not conclusive that males bring in more worms !!
Surprised I got anything at those shooting conditions. Actually inside the open fronted barn Pity about the background but it’s a sheet over a tractor which the farmer had putthere to keep off owl poo !!!- but at least its better than the brick wall with the ventilation holes in.
Nikon D200
Sigma 100-300
800ISO
50th sec @f5
About 70% of frame.
Levels etc
I assure you no introduced worms ,Owls, Perches, Walls, etc.etc.
Cheers
JR

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, eye contact, prey, exposure and composition. The BG looks a little blotchy and the owl feathers look a bit crunchy. Nice image John.

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent eye contact and prey, nice perch and BG too, I also like the view of the talons. the owl is a bit over-sharpened and shows some halo artifacts and the BG can use some NR. I would also reduce the red color cast.

TFS

[Frank Schauf]

Excellent shot with a great perch, John.

[christopher galeski]

nice capture,like the pose perch and BG,agree may be a tad over sharpened.

[gail bisson]

This is wonderful! There are a few PP issues ( oversharpened and do some NR) but if you fix those you have one heck of a great shot.
Gail

[Karl Egressy]

Good information about their eating habit. Also an excellent image, John.

[John Robinson]

Thanks perhaps I need not have bothered with the re work! Easily sorted.
Cheers
JohnR

[John Robinson]

Heres the original
Thanks
JohnR

[Joseph Przybyla]

Lovely owl John, the jury is still out on the worm, but I do like that it shows the behavior and feeding habits. Thank you for sharing.

[John Robinson]

Thank Joe
Yes ,in fact Iwas really lucky to get even one shot with a worm hanging., so I was pleased despite the drop in clarity. One other reason I was surprised was that the bird called as it came in and called to its mate as it landed on the perch. keeping hold of theworm at the same time !! Strangely the female sitting on eggs in the wall hole answered with a strange grating sound. She actually came out after a few seconds and took the food off the male. I missed it as I was checking the shots on the camera I know !! -Shouldn't do it !
Cheers
John

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the repost John. Very well done.

[John Robinson]

Cheers Jim
I think the main feature of the shot is the worm. The birds themselves are so confiding its unbelievable. Mind you they have been spoiled a little !! They will sit there 5 feet in front of the hide and preen or go to sleep. Its sometimes quite an effort to get them to move so you can get out of the hide ! That is the male I might add. You don't see much of the female as she tends to come off the eggs early morning and late evening, with the male popping in now and then with the odd tit bit during the day. What actually happens in the middle of the night I am not too sure. They are crepuscular anyway so probably not much !!
Cheers
John