As a wildlife photographer, I’ve set myself the goal of photographing all five of the native UK owls. So far, I’ve been lucky enough to snap the Barn Owl and the Little Owl, but I knew that the Tawny Owl was going to be the hardest. These strictly nocturnal birds can be quite sedentary, and sightings aren’t widely reported. Plus, Lancashire is a huge place to try to find one.
I really thought that the Tawny Owl was going to be the last owl I would find and photograph. But then I heard that one had been sighted near a local wooded park in Preston. Since I have a 9 to 5 job working as a programmer, it would need to be a weekend when I could go and investigate.
I set off from home at 4:30 am in the cover of darkness. I thought dawn was going to be my best chance. When I got to the spot, I saw a silhouette of a Tawny Owl fly right in front of me. It was still too dark to take any photographs, but it gave me confidence that an owl was there.
Hours passed, and dog walkers started appearing. I thought my chance of seeing a Tawny Owl was done for the day. But then, all of a sudden, I heard a group of blackbirds making a right commotion. They say that blackbirds are the first to give away a Tawny Owl’s location, and they did. They’d flushed the sleepy Tawny into the tree right in front of me.
The Tawny rested on its perch and tried to go back to sleep. It had been raining heavily throughout the night, and the owl knew I was there, even when I tried my best to conceal myself to limit disturbance. It really didn’t bat an eyelid at my presence.
Camera settings:
Due to the lack of light, my aperture was wide open at F6. The owl wasn’t moving, so I could go slow on the shutter speed at around 1/500s. I set the ISO to auto and it metered at around 2000-4000. Pinpoint AF and continuous AF.
Equipment: I used a Nikon Z50, Sigma 150-600c, Carbon Fibre Tripod, Gimbal Head, and no camouflage apart from drab clothing. Luckily, my car was parked nearby, so I didn’t need my rucksack, etc.
Post-processing:
Post-processing was quick and easy. I brightened the exposure and added bit of sharpening. The backlit green leaves made the image too bright and garish, so I dropped the saturation to make it more realistic to what I experienced.
So the third owl off my list, and it felt good to photograph the hardest one in my eyes. I learned that patience and perseverance are the keys to wildlife photography.
It also pays to know the habits and behaviours of your subject and to listen to the clues that nature provides. When locating a Tawny Owl, keep an ear out for mobbing blackbirds, and don’t be discouraged by the odds.
Thank you for reading!
Please feel free to share your own wildlife photography experiences in the comments below.
Till next time,
Scott
