Burrowing owl in the neighbourhood

I have seen many nice pictures of burrowing owls and now that I was in the U.S. why not try to get some pictures of them too. I had searched a bit online before the trip and found some iffy specified locations. Burrowing owls live in burrows (!) in the ground and to protect these nests, people put up  sticks and strings around the nest. Often they also put so-called T-pegs adjacent to the entrance so they can sit there and keep guard.

The nest below was found in a recreation park but was apparently abandoned. It was on the other hand in the middle of the afternoon and it was not certain that they would have shown themselves until later anyway.


Unfortunately I had no time to stick around to see if it turned up some owls, and it was not until several days later when I searched the web again that I got another useful hit. This time I got several practical tips of where to find them so I decided to check them up.
After about a half-hour ride, I ended up in the middle of a residential area and sure enough, there were plenty of  sticks with strings around. After a quick look around it seemed like all the burrows were abandoned. Since it was mid-day and I wasn't out in nowhere, I just waited until someone who lived there came by and politely asked if they had seen any owls. Sure, they had and they were also able to point out which nests were empty and which were inhabited. But they also said that the owls were out early in the morning and in the late afternoon but rarely midday. So I packed up my gear and planned for an early start the next day instead.

Filled with anticipation I got up early and went to the field. Because the residents had said that photographers with long telephoto lenses often parked along the streets I didn't hesitate to do likewise and hopefully I should avoid getting the police mistaking me for a bad guy. Unknown cars who park in the middle of the residential area under cover of darkness could easily get someone to dial 911...

In the faint backlight at the first nest I could barely see an owl sitting on a T-stick. I took some pictures at a really high iso but without any image quality. I could see that it would be a good picture with blurred background when the sun would rise. But the nice warm light didn't show up and the owl  moved to the ground. I took some additional images at a high iso mostly for documentation purposes and kept on waiting.


It seemed to be the most cloudy day on the whole trip and it was never really bright. Finally the owls disappeared down the hole. I decided to wait a while, but no one showed up again. Disappointed, I decided to look around at the other places to see if I would have a better luck there.

Next place seemed empty as well. But when I pass, I see a small movement in the rearview mirror and something was peeking out of the ground!


Now began a long wait while it became brighter and memory card slowly filled with jack-in-box images. It sat there and looked right and left, right and left.


Eventually I got bored because it was the same expression and composition all the time and the light was not better. So I began to head home. When I drive past the final settlement, I see again a movement in the rearview mirror. So I make a u-turn and park at the side of the road. The nest was a bit more hidden in the grass and the angle was a little different. A few pictures later, I noticed that there were someone other than me that was getting tired and I took it as a sign that it was time to go away.


Around the same time I see a police car show up and I start thinking about what to say and I put the lens out further through the open side window and simulates intensively photographing and it seems to work and the police only glances at me and then keep on driving away and I can relax and drive back to the hotel to finally have some breakfast.

Bald Eagle

After I had got a lot of pictures of herons of different kind I was looking for something else to turn my lens at. Bald Eagle would be nice and since I was i the USA I asked a couple of park rangers where I might find some. They pointed out an area where there were supposed to be some eagle nesting activities.
I checked the place on a map and came to the conclusion that one probably would have to be a jungle expert to get close enough to get some nice shots and at the same time risking to disturb the eagles. Knowing that it would be a federal offence to disturb a nesting eagle with a maximum penalty of 25000 dollars and a year in prison (at least according to "internet sources") I decided that it was nothing for me. Since Florida has the next largest population (south of Alaska) it must be some other place to go. So I turned to my trusted companion; the Internet. Using a well known search engine I finally found an article about a landowner with a nest that was visible from a public road. No risk of harassing any eagles from a public road I thought and decided to go there. So I entered the coordinates in my GPS and drove off.

When arriving at the destination I got a bit disappointed. Sure the nest was easy to spot but no or very little sign of any eagle. It was laying low in the nest and I could barely see a feather and a eye from time to time.


The area was enclosed so I couldn't get any closer and at the same time it was surrounded by roads so I couldn't get any further away either. The ground was completely flat and all this didn't make it easy to find a good spot to get a good shot so I put my gear at the only possible place and started to wait.

While scanning the sky and chatting with by-passers, that commented my camera gear, time went quickly.  Suddenly there were atypical eagle silhouette in the horizon. The eagle in the nest had also noted the arriving partner and started to make loud eagle cries and I got ready to fill my memory card with nice eagle shots!

Just when I was starting to press the button I got a heavy push at my shoulder! Surprised I almost lost my balance and is close to tripping the tripod of its balance. I quickly turn around and realize that it is a horse that was curious of me and just wanted to be friendly. Every knows that a photo opportunity arrives slowly and disappears like a flash. I found no other solution than stepping out in the road and hope no one would hit me with a car and quickly sorted out my gear and started to take pictures before this opportunity was gone.




After taking the first shots I then moved to a safer place to continue taking pictures out of reach from any irritating horses. Then it was gone. The whole sequence didn't take more than a minute and I thought that was it. Not quite according to my plan. 

But then I noticed that eagle didn't fly away, instead it flew to a nearby pond a couple of hundred meters from the nest, probably to get a drink before it would go to the nest. So I started to get towards the pond to try to get some pictures. I am almost with in a godd photo distance when it took off once again. This time towards the nest. Turning 180 degrees I was starting to build some sweat with all this jogging with the camera gear on my shoulder. It landed on a branch close to the nest and of course it put a heavy branch between me and it self, obviously just to tease me :-)



Without any notice there were two eagles in the air and then the changing of guards was over.


Luckily the "new" eagle stayed a short moment outside the nest so I managed to get some pictures before it dropped down in to the nest and was out of sight. Meanwhile the other one was take a circle around the nest before taking off to catch fish or to do what ever they do when not in the nest.  




As you maybe noticed there were a cable to the left of the nest in the first picture and that was the reason that I found it on the web. The landowner had placed a webcam in the tree and that page had got a lot of hits. You will find the camera here: http://dickpritchettrealestate.com/eagle-feed.html
Not the most natural scenery to take good eagle pictures but an eagle is still an eagle... :-)