Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Barred owl, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

Barred owl in Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

To celebrate my 30th birthday this weekend, my wife and I took a trip up to the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island so that I could hopefully find some shorebirds to photograph. I did manage to get myself pretty well-soaked in the cold, wet sand, but the real highlight was photographing this barred owl on the drive out of the park. It was a bit like being in Yellowstone, as we could see a cluster of cars pulled off the road and a slew of tripods all set up with their lenses pointed in one direction. I considered just driving by slowly to see what was there instead of joining the crowd, but I'm glad that my wife convinced me to stop and pull out my gear.

The sun had nearly fully set, so I had to up the ISO to 3200 to try to get a sharp shot, but it was a real delight to spend a few minutes photographing this gorgeous bird. A wonderful birthday surprise for sure!

View more owl photos in my Birds of Prey Gallery.


Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

13 comments:

  1. Beau MitchellDecember 18, 2012 at 10:21 PM

    What a beautiful animal! It's a shame that you had to push the ISO so far, but it's a great shot none-the-less.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TexWisGirlDecember 18, 2012 at 11:24 PM

    i love these birds. happy 30th to you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. mickDecember 19, 2012 at 12:58 AM

    That owl is really majestic looking. What a great finish to your day out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousDecember 19, 2012 at 2:11 AM

    Such a nice gift on your birthday!

    (Stopping by from Wild Bird Wednesday.)

    ReplyDelete
  5. eileeninmdDecember 19, 2012 at 5:01 AM

    Awesome shot of the owl!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Stewart MDecember 19, 2012 at 6:14 AM

    As people have said, thats a nice birthday present.

    Low light shots are always hard - I'm not sure that the "grain" as any impact on this picture.

    Cheers and thanks for linking to WBW - Stewart M - Melbourne

    ReplyDelete
  7. Carol BlackburnDecember 19, 2012 at 12:10 PM

    Wonderful shot of the owl and Happy Birthday Pat!

    ReplyDelete
  8. PatDecember 19, 2012 at 2:45 PM

    What a beautiful shot!

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownDecember 19, 2012 at 2:54 PM

    Beautiful close up!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wally JonesDecember 19, 2012 at 2:57 PM

    Now THAT'S a birthday present! I only recently got my first decent images of a Barred Owl so I know how thrilled you must be. (Aren't you glad you followed your wife's orders -- I mean suggestion -- to pull over and stop?)
    Nice post.

    ReplyDelete
  11. AmandaDecember 19, 2012 at 3:26 PM

    Aagh so jealous! What a great photo op. Beautiful with the snow. A world away from Mildura : )

    ReplyDelete
  12. tiptoethruphylsgarden.blogspot.comDecember 19, 2012 at 7:04 PM

    It is hard to get such a great picture of a barred owl,how lucky you were on your birthday!Beautiful shot!phyllis

    ReplyDelete
  13. Mary Howell CromerDecember 20, 2012 at 6:01 PM

    Barred Owls and Great Gray Owls, are my faves, and these images are really strikingly wonderful!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)