Official Photography Thread

[Pelado]

Short-eared owls have shown up at the local refuge for the past couple winters.

I guess I've never noticed the long-eared variety.

[Northwestcoug]

Very cool. Owls are amazing.

Yeah. We have some nesting great horned owls show up every couple of years. They are completely silent when they fly close to you. And they're butchers. We've come across dove massacres in our yard.

And yesterday I just learned that the back of their eyes are even bigger than the front, like pear-shaped! I don't understand how they fit in that relatively small skull of theirs.

[swampfrog]

I guess I've never noticed the long-eared variety.

Maybe this is tongue-in-cheek, maybe not. I have yet to have the opportunity to photograph the long-eared owl. On my hope to find some day list.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/..._Owl/overview#

[swampfrog]

Yeah. We have some nesting great horned owls show up every couple of years. They are completely silent when they fly close to you. And they're butchers. We've come across dove massacres in our yard.

And yesterday I just learned that the back of their eyes are even bigger than the front, like pear-shaped! I don't understand how they fit in that relatively small skull of theirs.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yeah. We have some nesting great horned owls show up every couple of years. They are completely silent when they fly close to you. And they're butchers. We've come across dove massacres in our yard.

And yesterday I just learned that the back of their eyes are even bigger than the front, like pear-shaped! I don't understand how they fit in that relatively small skull of theirs.

Every year some great-horned owls nest and hatch a set of chicks (whatever you call them) in a cemetery up the street from us. They live partly on domestic rabbits that people release at the cemetery. They are fun to watch.

[Pelado]

Maybe this is tongue-in-cheek, maybe not. I have yet to have the opportunity to photograph the long-eared owl. On my hope to find some day list.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/..._Owl/overview#

Tongue-in-cheek? From me?

But seriously, folks. Birds are certainly not my specialty but I was unaware of both the short and long-eared species of owls.

[Northwestcoug]

That's a cool video.

It's uncommon for us to see our owls in flight. When they're on our property they tend to stay in one place for awhile. But when you catch them fly to another tree it is dead quiet. A couple of times I've had owls fly right over me when I'm walking a dog. It takes you completely by surprise.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Beautiful pics, SF. That second pic (owl's face) fascinates me--such a beautifully symmetrical, color-coordinated, intensively detailed thing to behold. Nice going, God, nature, Lightroom...whatever!

[swampfrog]

Beautiful pics, SF. That second pic (owl's face) fascinates me--such a beautifully symmetrical, color-coordinated, intensively detailed thing to behold. Nice going, God, nature, Lightroom...whatever!

All of the above, right-click and go to the source image and look at it full screen. Really happy with the detail I can get because these owls have become acclimated to the passing cars on the refuge.

[BigPiney]

those shots in flight are so cool. I would have loved to have seen that.

[swampfrog]

Green Heron

[Bo Diddley]

Beautiful shots!

[Northwestcoug]

A few pics from New Zealand. I'll start on the North Island.

Whiritoa Beach, south of Coromandel Bay. A couple of the same thing just because I like both of them:
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A Gannet colony in Hawke's Bay, outside of Napier:
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You cannot visit places like these and not be inspired by biology. There's a few thousand birds here. It is controlled chaos. The younger birds (spotted) stretch their wings and 'practice' flying with every wind gust, but other than that they were pretty stationary. I have no idea how parents remember where their nests are.

[Northwestcoug]

Some from the South Island.
On the drive to Hooker Valley Track and near the base of Mt. Cook:
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Hooker Valley Track is a 6 mile out and back trail to the base of Mt. Cook. I wish we would have gotten here earlier or later, when the light would have been less harsh. Pretty crazy that there are still floating icebergs at the end of summer:
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Further south on our way to the Fiordland. The road outside of Queenstown follows Lake Wakitupo for miles, and the valley is just gorgeous:BE7A3389.jpg

[Northwestcoug]

Getting to the end. Bear with me!
The water in the Fiordland is gorgeous. Like Morraine lake gorgeous but more soothingly clear..
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Glacial activity galore. We were in this area 2 days. We got lucky and had 1 day of sunshine. Most other times you seeing mountains peeking out of fog and clouds.
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