Sunday, May 10, 2015

Bard Of The Woods

We become aware of birds by sound.

The Barred Owl, Strix varia, amongst the trees just south of the small wetland. Perfectly blended with the contrasty shadows and light of the cool season forest -elusive by design.


This owl, flying just overhead, eyed my friend and I as we maneuvered the 24 foot moving truck through the woods out to the road in the midst of a snow squall. He said it was his first owl sighting. The owl probably thought, new humans. Although it has no difficulty floating amongst the tangle of branches, I've spotted the owl using the drive as a flyway. The Barred Owl is at home in the woods, mid-canopy, and by my observation, never high up in the trees. It is rare to see the owl in situ, only shadowy, swooping, grey glimpses, if at all.


There are two in the woods, probably nest mates, that I hear calling to each other at night. Their call, Who looks for you. Who looks for yoooahahah, is a soulful incantation. Not long ago, I saw them swooping together.



2 comments:

  1. Simply gorgeous. How in the world did you get such good shots - excellent lens, probably.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks!
      Truth is my camera is fast and good. The lens however, is Terrible. Chromatic aberration is nasty and hard to focus because it is a 30 year old manual lens that I adapted to my digital camera. However, if the sun is behind me the CA is not so bad and it is telephoto (70-210mm)! That's the trick. The lens you have is the one that has to work.
      Also, when you reduce image sizes you can improve the overall image quality. So, in other words, you may not see the poor focus or CA if you don't know what to look for at 640x480 but you would at original size like 3800x2900. Ok, today's lesson is over!

      Delete

If I do not respond to your comment right away, it is only because I am busy pulling out buckthorn, creeping charlie, and garlic mustard...