Birds In Flight

So before I get into today's post and talk about the pictures below I have to put something right. The other day I did a post titled Long Eared Owl and I shared some beautiful shots of a really magnificent bird. The only problem is it was not a Long Eared Owl it was a Eurasian Eagle Owl and I wanted to clear that up, it doesn't change the fact that they're great pictures though so if you haven't seen them take a few moments and have a look.

But now for today...

I won't pretend that these are necessarily great pictures but they're not dreadful either. They do show how difficult it is to get perfect shots of birds in flight especially in low light conditions where it isn't possible to use a fast shutter speed. The light really was poor on this particular day and these birds don't hang about so it is not a good combination.

Nevertheless there it was a good challenge and while I have discarded lots of images I think these few are worth sharing. Bear in mind that these were all shot handheld at 1/200sec with and ISO of 640 between 300mm and 600mm with birds capable of flying 50 - 60mph or more.

So from top to bottom we have a British Barn Owl (this one is called Bob and at one point he sat on my head), next we have two shots of a Snowy Owl, next up is a Harris Hawk and then a hybrid bird, a cross between a Gyr Falcon and Saker Falcon (which by the way is absolutely beautiful and I will share a better picture of it tomorrow) and the final two shots were the last of the day and feature a Black Kite that was demonstrating how agile it is by catching food that was tossed into the air. 

I am fairly happy with these pictures, but as ever they just spur me on to want to do better so come the better weather (better light conditions) I will be back to try again.

It's A Hoot

I have always loved owls and these two specimens at Chester Zoo are quite stunning. I love the serene pose of the Ural Owl in the first image but my favourite of the two is the Northern Hawk Owl with its piercing gaze. While the Ural Owl sat serenely watching the world go by the Hawk Owl was always alert, keeping its eyes on me at all times.

Raptors and Owls

I am always excited to see birds of prey in the wild, I can remember watching a Goshawk swoop low past me one evening walking in an enclosure in the New Forest, and it is always a thrill to see large raptors flying above the motorway or perched on telegraph poles etc. Two weeks ago I got really excited to see a male Hen Harrier flying near Markington in Yorkshire.

Getting  photos of them is however quite difficult and good close-ups are even more difficult so when I had the chance to get up close to some at The Raptor Experience in July last year there was no way I would miss the opportunity to take some pictures.  Today I have picked a couple of my favourite pics from that day...

Juvenile Bald Eagle

Red Kite

Barn Owls