My First Owl

stevefossimages wrote in post #3123791
Ed, I feel your pain. Going after bird images while in the company of bird watchers is a recipe for frustration. Different goals demand different approaches.

T.D. wrote in post #3123809
Nice work!

I love these kinds of finds. Steve's right, it's difficult to shoot birds with a group. Good job getting what you did.

Thanks. In the case of this owl, I hung back after everyone had their look and shot some images. Then I returned to the group and then to my car for the tripod before returning to the owl for more images. On today's hike, after everyone saw the tree swallows and moved on, the swallows took off. So again, I hung back expecting them to return to the nest box/birdhouse they were sitting on top of. Sure enough, they returned in short order and I was ready for them. I think I got some nice images which I may post later.

Your fist owl is one of the hardest to find in these parts... Good find!

You did well under the circumstance...BIG congrats on your first Ed.

Thanks Eric. Thanks Reyno. I appreciate the comments.

EdV wrote in post #3123528
Hi folks,

Just got back from another warbler birding expedition. Each one just further highlights the BIG differences between birding and bird photography. They see a Blue-Headed Vireo in the tops of a 60 foot tree and they're happy. So am I but it doesn't do me a darn bit of good with my camera and 400mm lens. Particularly when it is backlit, etc. Each time out, I am lucky of I come back with one or two birds photographed. Yesterday it was a Black and White Warbler and the Eastern Screech Owl. Today it was a pair to Tree Swallows and a Rufous-Sided Towhee.

Hehe, I know exactly what you mean. You begin to wonder if most birders really care about observing birds or just clicking off another species for the day to outdo one another. I've seen birders basically ignore a close bird because they 'already have it' for their year list, or week list, or minute list or whatever. Stupid. I love birds, love observing them, photographing them and can spend an hour just looking at one species. It's cool to go on an organized hike to find the great spots, and then go back on your own and spend more time. Ever do the World Series of Birding? I've done it twice and it's an absolute blast, but forget the camera. You barely get a look sometimes and it's off and running to the next spot. Though I've seen some of my best sightings during the WSB.

Congratulations Ed. Well done under difficult circumstances.

Thanks Stephen. Thanks Bob.

Yes, trying to do photography in a group of 20 bird watchers is sort of a lost cause. Most seem to carry little notebooks to write down all the birds seen that day. And they do talk about "first-of-this-season" and so on.

Don't get me wrong. Bird watching is fun. And I do get to learn about some interesting spots. But for photography, I prefer what I did last evening. I've identified a location where I see warblers. I went there. I set up the camera on the tripod and waited. After about 90 minutes, I left with two series of nice shots - the Yellow-rumped Warbler and Yellow Warbler images that I posted yesterday (Sunday) evening.