Eastern Screech Owl

[Martin]

Have had a Screech Owl perched  for the past two nights between 4:00am - 5:00am at Thornhill Woods & Hwy #7 at Baker Woods Heritage Sugar Bush. This morning had a mouse and sat atop a feeder eating, good spot for an easy meal! Baker Woods has the last remaining stand of old growth sugar maples est 260 years old, many nesting cavities & Pileated Woodpeckers throughout the stand. Location north of Hwy #7 west of Bathurst St.
See photo
https://picasaweb.google.com/1124835510 ... 2984653362
https://picasaweb.google.com/1124835510 ... 4062492738
https://picasaweb.google.com/1124835510 ... 4491090802

[mr.sharp-photo]

Have had a Screech Owl perched atop of my feeder for the past two nights between 4:00am - 5:00am at the corner of Thornhill  Woods Drive & Hwy #7 across from Baker Woods Heritage Sugar Bush. This morning had a mouse and sat atop the feeders eating, found a good spot for an easy meal! Baker Woods has the last remaining stand of old growth sugar maples est 260 years old, many nesting cavities & Pileated Woodpeckers throughout the stand. Location north of Hwy #7 between Thornhill Woods & Bathurst St.
See photo
https://picasaweb.google.com/1124835510 ... 4062492738
https://picasaweb.google.com/1124835510 ... 4491090802
https://picasaweb.google.com/1124835510 ... 3702035122

Martin,
nice find. but kindly read up on the use of flash photography on owls at night - it is a big no-no.

thanks

[Martin]

I use to do surveys on owls in Muskoka, at that time we used spot lights on Barred-owls, the use of artificial light was at one time a matter of debate with no empiracle data to support the theory that light damages an owls retina, in this case there was a lot of ambient light from a street light directly above, if anyone has any recent articles I would certainly appreciate reading them.

[cloaca]

I don't have any articles for you, but I don't think "damage" is the concern.  I think it's more about the time it takes for the owl to adjust to the dark after your flash.

[Martin]

Thanks, good topic for discussion,  I have read as many for as there are against the use of a flash, even on this web site, it is certainly not good in my mind to photo an owl at night in flight by whatever means. I have only photo an owl at night a couple of times with a small flash, both times at some distance, on both occasions with some ambient light the owls seemed oblivious, in this case the owl continued to eat its meal and when finished flew off a couple of minutes later!
Martin

[mr.sharp-photo]

Martin,
i'm not an expert. i'm only going by what i've read and by what i see in humans.
you take a flash picture of me at night and i'm blind for minutes after. owls usually look startled in night-time flash pictures. considering that they are nocturnal hunters (for the most part) i assume that their night vision is compromised by flash photography.

again, no hard core data. just going by the standards and what i read. at the Spit, they insist that flash photography shouldn't be used, even during day time (which doesn't make sense to me from both angles...like, why are some people shooting with a flash during daylight?)

[Irene]

Martin,
i'm not an expert. i'm only going by what i've read and by what i see in humans.
you take a flash picture of me at night and i'm blind for minutes after. owls usually look startled in night-time flash pictures. considering that they are nocturnal hunters (for the most part) i assume that their night vision is compromised by flash photography.

again, no hard core data. just going by the standards and what i read. at the Spit, they insist that flash photography shouldn't be used, even during day time (which doesn't make sense to me from both angles...like, why are some people shooting with a flash during daylight?)

Some folks will use a fill flash in daylight because of location, for example in a forest where it is darker they would illuminate the area with the flash but it is not directed directly at the subject....maybe..just saying....that's the only reason I can think of...

[Martin]

Makes sense that an owls eyes at night would not be that indifferent than humans, although I know there are some differences when it comes to birds and direct sunlight as compared to mammals. Before retiring  I work in the Forensic Field of photography for 40 years & my days go back to old 4 X 5 Crown Graphics,  night shots had to do with your flash intensity & fill, distance & size of subject etc,  it would also make sense that the amount of available ambient light at night would make a difference on recovery time to either a human or owl. I always used a bounce day or night, although like a human I can't imagine it would have any effect on an owl during daylight hours as long as the flash is not aimed directly at your subject.

[BoboBird]

There is an article somewhere that says that there is one tiny hand-sized owl that is positively affected by flash. No success in re-locating that piece so far.

The "reasonable" explanation I have come across is that flash is no different from a bright bolt of lightning. Obviously being hit in the face is going to blind a human for a while and a direct flash into an owl will have the same impact. During that momentary lapse in sight he will be pretty vulnerable and could get into all sort of dangerous situations. So the best thing is to avoid a flash at all costs.

I believe that the welfare of the "target" should always outweigh any photograph. Not many know how to use a flash properly so even if one has, the shot will turn out shi**y anyway. So why bother?

I do not use flash at all on birds of any sort. The one and only time was on a robin and it was startled so have never again.

[mr.sharp-photo]

99% of the time, i won't use a flash. there was one time i used one on a NSWO, and that was during daylight and it was aimed away from the owl (to the side). if you went through my pictures, you would have a difficult time figuring out which picture it is.
and i did 2 shots and stopped. the owl looked indifferent.

the screech in the initial post, on the other hand...looks quite pissed off and startled.

[Reuven_M]

I'm not convinced that there is a negative effect, although it makes sense. Reason is, this May, I came across a family of screech owls at Erindale Park just after dark. I had my headlamp pointing off a bit to the side so I could watch the owls without bothering them, but one of the parents, not once but twice, landed directly in the beam, looked straight at me and the headlamp for a few seconds, then took off and returned with a mouse to feed the young within a minute.
IMHO, the main issue is disturbance, not flash. I'd still avoid it in any case however.

[mr.sharp-photo]

Martin,
i'm not an expert. i'm only going by what i've read and by what i see in humans.
you take a flash picture of me at night and i'm blind for minutes after. owls usually look startled in night-time flash pictures. considering that they are nocturnal hunters (for the most part) i assume that their night vision is compromised by flash photography.

again, no hard core data. just going by the standards and what i read. at the Spit, they insist that flash photography shouldn't be used, even during day time (which doesn't make sense to me from both angles...like, why are some people shooting with a flash during daylight?)

Some folks will use a fill flash in daylight because of location, for example in a forest where it is darker they would illuminate the area with the flash but it is not directed directly at the subject....maybe..just saying....that's the only reason I can think of...

catch light.
you want that glint in your subject's eye.
so bloody stupid.