Common food source for some Barred Owl families on Vancouver Island is freshwater crayfish. This location supposedly has a family fishing the creek every breeding season. Only got one lucky time when mom perched near enough to me to watch her eat one. The other shots are some of mom and some of the three fledglings...
Crayfish is on the menu of the barred owls, huh? How did it find/catch it though? Mergansers do dive to catch them but owls? Superb images, Geoff! I didn’t expect anything less from you .
AGeoJO wrote:
Crayfish is on the menu of the barred owls, huh? How did it find/catch it though? Mergansers do dive to catch them but owls? Superb images, Geoff! I didn’t expect anything less from you .
Joshua
Thanks Joshua.
The two locations I know of the creeks are very shallow, like just a few inches deep in some spots. So the owl just sits above (sometimes on a branch just 3-4feet over the creek) watching for one and then pounces down into the creek and grabs it. I always miss seeing her actually grab it as the creek is down in a little trough. So not sure if she grabs with talons or her beak. I found out about this spot late in the game this year. I hope next year I will go earlier and she will be hunting more frequently when the chicks are still little.
Love these, Geoff. Your photography has inspired me in many ways, but this is different. I know I have Barred Owls in the woods around me, which I have shot. But, I also have a shallow creek that would take some effort to get to, bush whacking. I think I will have to look. TFS
Rex
Cool shots! A little over a month ago I watched a barred owl grab a huge crayfish in southern Missouri at close range. Unfortunately, I had way too much foliage between the bird and myself to get decent pictures. That was the first time I had seen one prey on crayfish.
kdacharya wrote:
lovely behavioral shots and that too from 200-600 mm. lovely
Thanks KD
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Bmetcan wrote:
Very nice set. I really like 7 for the spotlight effect and simplicity and 10 for the habitat, colors, and hint of iris in the eye.
Thanks. Yeah it is very challenging to get any detail in a Barred Owl's eye. That is the one reason I don't like photographing them compared to all the other owls where the yellow eyes are the stand out engaging feature.
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morris wrote:
Excellent work as usual Geoff. The lighting on 3, 7 and 9 makes these images stand out.
Morris
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jaylee73 wrote:
Some very enjoyable images. 7 and 10 are my top pics
Jason
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dallvr wrote:
Beautiful images, including behaviors like feeding and flight, as well as lovely portraits. Great job!
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amlsml wrote:
Wow again. what a great set
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surgemaster wrote:
Love these, Geoff. Your photography has inspired me in many ways, but this is different. I know I have Barred Owls in the woods around me, which I have shot. But, I also have a shallow creek that would take some effort to get to, bush whacking. I think I will have to look. TFS
Rex
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