Northern Hawk Owl and lunch

[Melvin Grey]

This was one of the pair I photographed at the nest in a previous posting. Although they have a reputation for being very aggresive near the nest site, this bird brought in this rodent and proceded to butcher it on this stump within 25ft of where I was standing in full view. I was able to adjust my position to get a few shots before it flew over to the nest and fed the three chicks. Both birds never once made any alarm calls at my presence even when, on my last day, I went to the nest site to count the young and collect some pellets for the Churchill Field Studies Centre. The photo was taken at 5:45 am with very contrasty lighting from the rising sun filtering through the pine trees. The apparent difference in size of the eyes and pupils is because one eye is in bright sun and the other in shadow.

Canon 1D Mk111, 500mm f4 IS. Exp. 1/250 @ f8 ISO 800 - despite the dark surroundings I did not give any plus exp. comp. as I was afraid of burning out the light parts of the plumage in the contrasty light.

[Stephen Keene (Plumviewer)]

Kudos -- another fine pressing of the shutter release.

[Keith Bauer]

I've never had the chance to see one of these guys. This is a very pleasing pose with a nice story showing with the catch. I like the light and how you worked with it.

[Tony Whitehead]

Lovely shot. Great pose, action , detail, BG, perch. Light almost looks like a spotlight on the star of the show

[Grace Scalzo]

I too was drawn in by the spotlight effect on your subject. A really fine image here, thanks for sharing it!

[Mark Schmitt]

Smashing shot!!! Love everything about it. Tony and Grace focused in on the light isolating the bird and creating a nice contrast in ilumination and colour in the shot. In theatre this kind of lighting is called "a special". Great image.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Love the sidelighting and intense posture. Well done!

[Stu Bowie]

Love the eye contact, and amazing feather detail captured in this. Well done.