Want To Photoraph Owls In The Wild, Help

I guess it depends on where you are. And then, most people stay on the trail, aren't there to take pictures and wouldn't talk to strangers anyway.

Where I live, there are no big cities anywhere near here, we have forest that goes in all directions for hundreds of miles and I'm on the Mississippi flyway. I have seen many owls over the years. I've even trapped them for banding. I can tell you, there are a very few people that know so much about owls that they probably could find one the first day, but those people are few and far between. The rest of us could stumble around the woods till next summer and never see one. We need help.

canonloader wrote in post #2093815
I guess it depends on where you are. And then, most people stay on the trail, aren't there to take pictures and wouldn't talk to strangers anyway.

Where I live, there are no big cities anywhere near here, we have forest that goes in all directions for hundreds of miles and I'm on the Mississippi flyway. I have seen many owls over the years. I've even trapped them for banding. I can tell you, there are a very few people that know so much about owls that they probably could find one the first day, but those people are few and far between. The rest of us could stumble around the woods till next summer and never see one. We need help.

I mostly photograph the hawks, but I know the owls are out there

There were perhaps 6 great horns at the end of the Morro Bay camp ground last weekend, next to the golf course. I saw then at dawn, too dark for a pic but they were great to listen to.

Paul A wrote in post #2094036
There were perhaps 6 great horns at the end of the Morro Bay camp ground last weekend, next to the golf course. I saw then at dawn, too dark for a pic but they were great to listen to.

Hmmm, I will keep that in mind, we are headed up to Monterey next month

Patience is certainly a requirement as there are no garantees you will find an owl even if you are in an area where you know they should be or where they have been seen and reported.. Great Horned Owls can blend in pretty well especially when they get up high in the pines. Other Owls blend in well with their environments as well...I would very much like to see and photograph a Sawhett Owl but I have never seen one even though they are in our area. canondslruser gave you some excellent advice and this from a photographer who has a lot of experience with owls. Others here have done the same.

When you see an owl picture and he's sitting on a rubbed bare limb with no trash leaves, vines or other branches in the way, where would you guess it was taken at?[/quote]

I tend to agree with that statement but then this full frame shot fits that description and was taken in July of this year at Mud Lake. No Zoos around here This was about 07:30 A.M. and there were two of them within a 30 feet of one another and they had not retired for the day yet. There are almost always 2 of these Owls in this area yet even when I am out looking for one of them its hit and miss with the misses outnumbering the hits.Mobbing crows do help. There are those that are better at finding them. Blackburnian from this site has a talent for locating these guys.

Gary Fairhead wrote in post #2095133
Patience is certainly a requirement as there are no garantees you will find an owl even if you are in an area where you know they should be or where they have been seen and reported.. Great Horned Owls can blend in pretty well especially when they get up high in the pines. Other Owls blend in well with their environments as well...I would very much like to see and photograph a Sawhett Owl but I have never seen one even though they are in our area. canondslruser gave you some excellent advice and this from a photographer who has a lot of experience with owls. Others here have done the same.

When you see an owl picture and he's sitting on a rubbed bare limb with no trash leaves, vines or other branches in the way, where would you guess it was taken at?[/quote]

I tend to agree with that statement but then this full frame shot fits that description and was taken in July of this year at Mud Lake. No Zoos around here This was about 07:30 A.M. and there were two of them within a 30 feet of one another and they had not retired for the day yet. There are almost always 2 of these Owls in this area yet even when I am out looking for one of them its hit and miss with the misses outnumbering the hits.Mobbing crows do help. There are those that are better at finding them. Blackburnian from this site has a talent for locating these guys.

Thats a great shot, and thanks for the tips and advice

calicokat wrote in post #2091388
Wow, thanks for the info and tips. The owl pages website is great. How do i go about finding local birding club here in Simi Valley, Ca

And nice shots of the egret as well

Thanks calicokat. I was very fortunate to have gotten close to it which really helps in making a good shot. I think someone below has answered your question about local birding.

Here are some wild Barred Owl shots for ya!

[QUOTE=Gary Fairhead;2095133]Patience is certainly a requirement as there are no garantees you will find an owl even if you are in an area where you know they should be or where they have been seen and reported.. Great Horned Owls can blend in pretty well especially when they get up high in the pines. [/quote]
Very true.

No Zoos around here.
Hey, have you seen Mud Lake in springtime with all the photographers around?

Blackburnian from this site has a talent for locating these guys.
The name Blackburnian shall be withdrawn from this day and henceforth he shall be known as Owlian.

reewik wrote in post #2098973
Here are some wild Barred Owl shots for ya!

1/60 @ 5.6 with the 400 5.6L ISO 200 EV +1/3

1/500 @f5.6 with the 400 5.6L ISO 640 EV +1/3

Beautiful shots, nice finds

Very beautiful owl shots.

But I still stand by everything I said earlier. For every one of you "lucky experts" who get an owl shot, there are a hundred thousand wannabe's who never will.

canonloader wrote in post #2101254
Very beautiful owl shots.

But I still stand by everything I said earlier. For every one of you "lucky experts" who get an owl shot, there are a hundred thousand wannabe's who never will.

so far, I am in category two

Yeah, me too.

Maybe that's why I said it?

canonloader wrote in post #2101280
Yeah, me too.

Maybe that's why I said it?

Well, maybe we will get lucky sooner than later

With any luck, I'll get one soon. I'm going to live by my own words. A new member here is also a published wildlife writer and photographer for our area newspapers and magazines. He's also one of thoes "one in a million" real life nature dudes who knows more about whats in the woods than he does about whats in his living room. I'm going to get him to teach me.