A Barred Owl (Strix varia,) in Campbell Valley Park, Langley, British Columbia, Canada.
I went for a walk through some trails last week and while I wasn’t going there specifically for photography I brought the camera along. I figured that if I didn’t have it with me, an eagle would land in a tree right in front of me and well, I would be out of luck photographically. No eagles this time, but a Barred Owl (Strix varia) did land right in front of me and posed for long enough for me to get a few decent shots of it. I have never seen an owl this close before, and I’m lucky I had a camera poised to take the shot. A few weeks ago I was in the same spot on the trail taking some macro shots of Pacific Bleeding Heart flowers. If the owl had shown up then I would have had the macro lens on (instead of the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS), camera on the tripod, mirror lockup turned on, the ISO too low, and an aperture stopped down enough that a handheld shot would have been impossible. I guess what I am saying is I feel fortunate to have had all the factors work out for me this time! Getting a nice composition is difficult with so many branches sticking out everywhere though.
such a beautiful nature picture! you’re very lucky to see this owl in real. i never saw one before in the wild…
I saw one a long distance away years ago, and I’ve heard them hooting in the dark, but this was a first. Glad to have been able to see it. The second time we saw the owl it flew a few feet over our heads – completely silent.
Wow, very nice shot….you know it would be funny if the Canon camera could read our thoughts to get that perfect shot every time…Oh well, maybe next generation?
From the Canon girl
I don’t know – if I had a camera that got a “perfect” shot every time I don’t think I would be interested in photography.