Another captive image from my foray into the wildlife park of my favorite Australian Owl. I spent a fair bit of time with this male owl. His girl was at the back of the enclosure and too shy to face the paparazzi. I long for the day I get to see one of these in the wild. You'll hear me scream from across the Atlantic. :) I really, really love the penetrating yellow eyes these Ninox owls have. This is called a barking owl, as it literally barks and its calls in the forest may be mistaken (and often have been) to dogs barking. Other than that, they do have an ear-piercing scream, which would send shivers down anyone's spine - called the "screaming woman'. I was taken aback when I did hear it from a couple of meters away, as it is normally a daytime call. Hopefully this link will get you to the calls.
Cropped to vertical. 30D, 100mm macro, 430EX, manual exp. probably about 1/125th and f/5.6 (cannot remember off the top of my head) hand held.
I really appreciate the back story with the image, adds a lot to my enjoyment and education! Those are beacon like eyes! Sharp, nice exposure, nice DOF handling. Not often you get to shoot owls with a macro lens.
Here is hoping that you get to yell out loud when you finally get one of these guys in the wild!
Nice image, I like it centered as it is very much, light is nice still some light from behind to separate the owl from the BG a bit would have been nice although I don't know if that was possible. Nice detail, colors, and species, I agree about the flash catchlights that need to be removed. Congratulations!
Barking Owl
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