This owl, one of five fledglings, spent most of the day sleeping 3 feet off the ground on a difficult perch to photograph it from right by the side of a popular walking trail. The other four owlets were 40 feet up a dense Pine. After a bit, a conservation officer dispersed us further away, and roped the area off. This is a wild bird, good luck having it remain within the ropes! I just left. An hour later it started to rain, so I went back to see if the owl was wet, and this was a good move. Only one other person was there, and the owl had indeed moved outside the roped off area, but still next to the trail, and at about six feet off the ground. Perfect. It was still on the move and hopped from thin twig to twig, until it came back to the same tough spot as originally. The owl got soaked, I got soaked, but it was all well worth it! The next day it was up the pine tree with its other siblings .
Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/320s., f/5.6, ISO 1600, natural light, handheld, full frame.
Eastern Screech-Owl Fledgling
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