Some shots from the last two weeks.
Never quite get a good feeling shooting these guys but whatever.
Last
weekend i decided to take Audy out in the fog to see if we could get
some Lifer looks for her of the birds that shall not be named at the
location that shall not be disclosed (although it doesn't really matter
because these birds are the worst kept secret in the lower mainland,
despite the best efforts of the local birding yahoo group).
My
only looks at this species before was a couple of winters ago and the
bird i photographed (along with everyone else) turned out to be a sick
bird that was found dead days later.
Knowing that they have been
somewhat reliable this winter i decided to spend more time in the area
than i usually do with some results.
The bird we saw last weekend
picked a roost out in the open and when we arrived the paparazzi was out
in full force by the side of the road and i told Audy that this was her
chance to see one.
We spent about an hour watching it snooze until it decided to fly a few feet to a more secluded spot deep in a tree.
Audy
found an opening in the tree and i got off a few shots, the bird was
wide awake and would later fly down the road further to get away from
the mob.
We left it at that, the mob however chased it further still.
Yeh,
i got a shot of the bird with it's eyes open in a fairly open spot but
so did the other dozen photogs there, nothing too special and the bird
didn't look comfortable did it?
Since i had friday off i decided to head out that way again, i was hoping to get a less crowded location than on the weekend.
That
wasn't to be as photogs were all over the place, there was even one
really close to the bird i spotted in my car on the drive up, perched in
a ridiculously open location, i was speechless that there wasn't a
crowd in front of it already, no one but me it turned out.
As it
turned out, i only got two shots off before the bird itself decided that
it's chosen perch was ridiculous and flew a few feet to a perch out of
the open.
I got one shot i was really pleased with, even more so because every other photog in the area didn't get it 
Since i knew where the bird went to, i decided to walk around a bit and come back later, which i did.
I set up and hid myself as best i could from owl-hungry eyes and spent the next hour watching the bird snooze unmolested.
I
admit that in my mind during that time a head-turn (or open eyes) from
the bird would have been golden, my position was precarious and i
couldn't even move my body much because it would vibrate my tripod
(which was on unsteady ground) but i waited patiently.
Eventually, my
good thing turned out to be too good and a few people spotted me and
decided that they would crash my private party.
My ploy of ignoring
everyone didn't work in the end and eventually there was a small crowd
gathered, too bad for them the only good uncluttered look was exactly
where i was set up. I shouldn't complain too much i guess because the
clumsy interlopers made a lot of noise getting to my location and that
woke the bird up which turned it's head then and i got my shots,
ironically enough.
What
wasn't cool though was one person in particular that spotted my bird
(yes, today it was my bird because no one else had it before i did that
morning) and then went and started blabbing the location to everyone
they saw, a crowd starts forming and next thing i see is the poor bird
being surrounded from all sides (hey, at least the location i was at the
bird was secure and safe since there was a deep ditch full of water
between me and it), i was sure the bird would eventually flush when i
saw one photog trespass onto the field from the opposite direction but i
could watch no more and drove away.
I feel like someone in a
glass house with stones when i try to discuss my feelings towards this
whole owl/photog relationship because i of course want the same shots as
everyone else,
i just think photogs
should be more discreet, especially when we are talking about these
birds in particular that are in decline, you don't really need to tell
everyone you see, do you?
