Owls

You know me any excuse to photograph wildlife. I am not very keen on photographing animals in the zoo. I much prefer to photograph them in the natural environment. However, I don’t currently have the time to hide for hours or days in a ditch, in the hope that an owl flies over, so sometimes it is necessary to compromise.

Offered the opportunity to photograph some owls at Gauntlet Birds of Prey – Eagle & Vulture Park, Knutsford, I couldn’t say, ‘No’. It’s four hours of driving to get to Knutsford, so it’s a good excuse for a night’s stay in a wonderful air bnb and a great dinner in a local pub. A lovely evening and the chance of a bit of a lay in in the morning.

Woke up to a frosty morning, phone says -5. My feet are already frozen. I am hoping they warm up before the start of the shoot.  We find a lovely restaurant for a midmorning brunch, after which we head for the sanctuary. The gauntlet is closed because its off season so we have the place to ourselves. We are well looked after by the organiser Gary and the specialist owl handler Jake.

As we head out the back to an open area a hungry wild Buzzard joins us, we all try and get our eye in photographing this magnificent bird. Jake offers it some tit bits which it is happy to take. Jake then introduces us to a barn owl who behaves beautifully posing on a branch swooping and hovering. He dives onto some treats in the grass, when he's got it he stamps on it just to make completely sure that its dead. Absolutely gorgeous. The wild instinct still intact he hears a mouse in the undergrowth and dives into the leaves between the branches to get it. We are told that in the wild 2 out of 3 hunts are unsuccessful. The barn owl is more that happy to pose for us and repeatedly fly. When he’s full he heads back towards he’s enclosure.

The buzzard has been watching closely, because when the owl has had enough, he perches hopefully on the same branch. When offered food he also swoops and dives for the food. When he's sated, he's off. He maybe wild but he's not stupid.  Jake told us that wild birds need to feed every day. They don’t have reserves of fat, so can easily starve to death in just a couple of days.

Jake, then leads us to a field outside the sanctuary, where the horse in a neighbouring field nosily watches us much to the owl's disgust. These owls are diurnal meaning that they prefer to hunt at dawn and dusk, rather than at night. We have mixed feelings about the frost melting in the sun as the owls swoop low over the grass. We pleased it’s a little warmer in the sun, but sad that the frost has gone. The now not frozen ground is also very boggy.  The owl keeps a close eye on the horse even as we change the angle of his flights.

A great grey owl is our next model, again diurnal he is stunning in the rays of the setting sun. He is also curious about the horse. I am amazed how they fly so close to the ground, just skimming over the long grasses. Totally silent. With incredible hearing, I can completely understand how they would surprise an unsuspecting mouse.

A quick tea break to warm up and we head indoors to a room which has been set up with flash lights and black backdrops (which may or may not have been used by some staff for dust sheet during a recent painting session in the cafe). We attach our cameras to the tripod, I spent the day before looking everywhere for the gimble plate with no success, only find now that it’s still attached to my long lens…  We set up the cameras to focus on a fixed spot and then switch to manual focus. We are going to try and catch a photo of an owl in flight. The lights are off and the flying birds are lit purely by the flash. Absolutely stunning.

First one, along eared owl flies to the log and overshoots flying out of my focus. A click on the button and I have the shutter on low high speed. The little tufted eared owl freezes in the frame. The barn owl’s white feathers are just stunning in the flash and a little burrowing owl would much rather run around like a puppy bringing a smile to everyone’s face than fly.  

Its back outside to photograph the final two stars. The Tawny owl and the long eared owl pose delightfully in the trees, regarding us with some amusement. The tawny owl even attracts a wild female Tawny to the nearby trees, she’s too shy to come closer and our little male simply ignores her calls.

Its then time to head home. We have no choice other than to drive the four hours home, I have a  craft fair in the morning. It was well worth the effort though. Just amazing. I can drive with a smile on my face, great memories.