Powerful Owl with dinner/brekkie.
Captured in a leafy central Sydney suburb inside the confines of a public garden. The day I captured this was my first time seeing this owl species, the largest on our Aussie continent and a member of the Hawk Owl genus of Ninox. These guys stand at about two feet tall, with talons big enough to incapacitate their favorite prey - Ringtail possums - but should one try and handle these birds, those talons could inflict some severe damage to the person's arm or hands! They are indeed, very powerful.
This day, it was raining, quite heavily and I must than a friend of mine - Alex Zografos - who so unselfishly held an umbrella for me while I shot away like an excited little child. He has seen the species often enough previously or such was his reason.
The possum was most likely caught just before dawn, and come dusk the owl usually finishes it off before departing for another night's assault on the suburban trees' dwellers.
30D, 300mm f/4L IS USM, ISO 1000, f/5.6, 1/50th, 430EX at zero with beamer, tripod, remote release. From memory I cropped about 20%. Also, I tried to get the best position to eliminate as much of the encroaching OOF fern leaf as possible but it is still sadly visible.
Originally Posted by Gus Cobos
