One of the downsides of always having lived in a city is that one does not get to see creatures that might be a common occurrence in the past. Take an owl for instance- there are so many reference to owls in literature and culture; but for me it was not something I could relate to- because I had never seen one in the wild. Till yesterday!
Sonya and I were returning home from a stroll to the rose garden. We were about to walk back on the sidewalk, when Sonya suggested that we take the trail instead. I was happy because I had my small compact camera with me- and with it I planned to take a picture of a trillium- which I had seen pop up from the barren ground on March 22- not an unusual way to become Thoreauesque in the 21st century. As I was walking along the trail, I kept my eyes peeled to the ground and was trying to remember on which turn I had seen the trillium with Sonya hurrying on ahead of me- anxious to get back home. I looked up to ponder which was the turn where the trillium might be.
With pure luck, I saw a large bird alight on a tree branch a 100 feet away. It had its head turned- and in the dull light of a usually drizzly Portland evening, I suspected that it might be the common red-tailed hawk. But then, it turned its head- and my heart skipped a beat- this thing was able to turn its head by nearly 180 degrees. It was paler than a hawk- IT WAS AN OWL!
It was a hundred yards from me on a tree to the left. I alerted Sonya - and motioned her in the direction of the bird- whispering "Owl". I did not want to point- but had to to show Sonya its location on the tree. I was remembering what I had heard from the great Harry Nehls- when I had taken a class with the Tualatin River Photo Society last fall- "owls are large birds and don't get scared easily. It is not going to fly away because it is scared of you. There are few things it is afraid of in the wild".
I removed my s90 camera from the jacket pocket and zoomed in all the way- to a paltry 105mm in 35mm equivalent. The exposure compensation was already set to minus two thirds, and it was taking raw files. All good. We slowly walked up on the trail to where we were closest to the bird. I was so thrilled to see the owl, resting on the branch, and scanning the scene around it and it finally turned its head, and looked at me for a few seconds allowing me to take 4 pictures, which I took by slowly raising my arms in front of me while holding the camera as steadily as possible for the shutter speed of 1/6th of a second. The light was low- the pictures were at iso 1600 with f4.9. In one the head was turned away from the camera, in two others, the picture was shaky- but the fourth one was the best- which you can see below.
We walked on, with me ahead of Sonya, still intent on finding the trillium- we had seen our owl- for 10 seconds on that branch- and did not want want to spook it too much. As we continued walking on the path, Sonya cried out "Sugata! Sugata!". I turned around back to find Sonya ducking, and the owl silently gliding parallel to the path. It landed on a tree 50 feet ahead on the path to our left.
After pausing for a second, we continued on. As we came to the spot, where we were closest to the owl, we stopped and eyed each other again for a few seconds. We continued on, and as we looked back, the owl flew- SILENTLY- and landed on a tree 200 feet away from us, and then took off. I was thinking of all the little birds we had seen on the walk- the noisy song-sparrows, juncos, robins and even a spotted towhee. They would not stand a chance with this evolutionary tuned beast capable of silent flight.
And yes, I did get my trillium picture.
Today morning, I woke up with an "AHA" moment. Earlier on the walk yesterday, near the Japanese garden, we had seen a murder of crows causing a ruckus. Perhaps, they had seen this owl before us.
Sonya and I were returning home from a stroll to the rose garden. We were about to walk back on the sidewalk, when Sonya suggested that we take the trail instead. I was happy because I had my small compact camera with me- and with it I planned to take a picture of a trillium- which I had seen pop up from the barren ground on March 22- not an unusual way to become Thoreauesque in the 21st century. As I was walking along the trail, I kept my eyes peeled to the ground and was trying to remember on which turn I had seen the trillium with Sonya hurrying on ahead of me- anxious to get back home. I looked up to ponder which was the turn where the trillium might be.
With pure luck, I saw a large bird alight on a tree branch a 100 feet away. It had its head turned- and in the dull light of a usually drizzly Portland evening, I suspected that it might be the common red-tailed hawk. But then, it turned its head- and my heart skipped a beat- this thing was able to turn its head by nearly 180 degrees. It was paler than a hawk- IT WAS AN OWL!
It was a hundred yards from me on a tree to the left. I alerted Sonya - and motioned her in the direction of the bird- whispering "Owl". I did not want to point- but had to to show Sonya its location on the tree. I was remembering what I had heard from the great Harry Nehls- when I had taken a class with the Tualatin River Photo Society last fall- "owls are large birds and don't get scared easily. It is not going to fly away because it is scared of you. There are few things it is afraid of in the wild".
I removed my s90 camera from the jacket pocket and zoomed in all the way- to a paltry 105mm in 35mm equivalent. The exposure compensation was already set to minus two thirds, and it was taking raw files. All good. We slowly walked up on the trail to where we were closest to the bird. I was so thrilled to see the owl, resting on the branch, and scanning the scene around it and it finally turned its head, and looked at me for a few seconds allowing me to take 4 pictures, which I took by slowly raising my arms in front of me while holding the camera as steadily as possible for the shutter speed of 1/6th of a second. The light was low- the pictures were at iso 1600 with f4.9. In one the head was turned away from the camera, in two others, the picture was shaky- but the fourth one was the best- which you can see below.
 |
| Me thinks it was a "Barred Owl" |
We walked on, with me ahead of Sonya, still intent on finding the trillium- we had seen our owl- for 10 seconds on that branch- and did not want want to spook it too much. As we continued walking on the path, Sonya cried out "Sugata! Sugata!". I turned around back to find Sonya ducking, and the owl silently gliding parallel to the path. It landed on a tree 50 feet ahead on the path to our left.
After pausing for a second, we continued on. As we came to the spot, where we were closest to the owl, we stopped and eyed each other again for a few seconds. We continued on, and as we looked back, the owl flew- SILENTLY- and landed on a tree 200 feet away from us, and then took off. I was thinking of all the little birds we had seen on the walk- the noisy song-sparrows, juncos, robins and even a spotted towhee. They would not stand a chance with this evolutionary tuned beast capable of silent flight.
And yes, I did get my trillium picture.
 |
| The trillium |
Today morning, I woke up with an "AHA" moment. Earlier on the walk yesterday, near the Japanese garden, we had seen a murder of crows causing a ruckus. Perhaps, they had seen this owl before us.
No comments:
Post a Comment