Getting to see long-eared owls nesting in a small town in my area
Full screen gallery below
So on my wish list there are a few birds that I am really keen to photograph, owls being one of those birds. It doesn’t matter which species as long as its in a natural surrounding and the birds are free. There are a lot of bird “sanctuaries” where you can photograph birds. Don’t get me wrong I would also love to rekindle my bird portrait series, but getting birds in their natural habitat or environment on a photo has my preference.
Well having said that I went on a guided tour to find owls, in this case long-eared owls. As I knew that these were arleady spotted I sort of knew what I was getting into. However I was quite amazed that these birds were actually nesting in trees that are in someones front garden. Believe it or not half a dozen, give or take, are freely nesting in someone front garden in one of the towns here.
This made me think, is this still nature? Are these birds in their natural habitat? And am I ok with pursuing this guided tour in photographing these birds? Some questions I asked myself during and after the experience. I don't have the answer as it is not as black and white as it seems. In the end the birds chose to nest here, they were not forced or depended on this location as some birds are when they are in a shelter (even if the have the freedom to leave or not).
What I do know is that I absolutely enjoyed the experience to observe and photopgraph these birds. I think I was there for almost an hour devided between the start of the tour and the end. I saw more than only these owls.
In the end, would I do it again? Maybe? Am I ok with it, sure as long as the birds are there out of their own free will. Again, food for thought, still wanted to share the experience and the photos.
All in all a really nice experience in an odd location. All shot with the Sony A1 and 200-600mm! And don’t hesitate to leave a comment or an e-mail. Click to view larger in a light box and navigate with mouse or arrow keys. Enjoy!
