Owls at Leslie Spit - Feb 3rd/2008

[Mathew Rossi]

Hi all. This is my first post in the new boards, but I've been hanging around here for many years.

Firstly thanks to posters on the board, I was looking for a new spot to head with the camera & new lens. After reading reports (and waiting an eternity for a quasi-sunny day) I thought I'd head to the Spit and see if I could find some Owls. It was a great day for it!

While the hike was a 9am-4pm gruelling effort I'm still sore from, the results were entirely worthwhile. I heard from other birders that there was a Long-eared Owl in the area, but I couldn't find him. I did manage to find what I believe was 3 different Great Horned, a Barred Owl, and also saw a Snowy on one of the heavily nested peninsulas, but couldn't catch a shot of him.

Other than the owls, I found the bird activity fairly sparse, some chickadees, sparrows, not much else. I did manage to find the remains of a rabbit, not a nice sight but that's nature at work for you.

Anyways, here's some of my shots. I haven't had time to do any post-processing (other than convert from RAW), the Owl closeups are uncropped. Equipment is Canon 30D, Kenko 1.4x teleconverter (not all shots), with Canon 100-400 IS/L, my new baby

Edit - photos now post-processed

[rgboy]

Hi Mathew. I guess we have captured the same birds. These creatures are beautiful! I've been there too, about 7:00 am

[Mathew Rossi]

Did you happen to be the guy walking out in the morning (~10:30ish?) with a tripod over your back? If so I was wondering what kind of lens you were using.

[rgboy]

Yes. That was me. I was with my wife. We were heading out about 10:30. I am using 70-200L f/4 + 1.4tc. It's a bit small for birding, but I am trying.

[Mathew Rossi]

Oh, the guy I saw was on his own, and had what looked to be a white L-series lens that was about 2 feet long (literally). Either way nice day for some hiking over there. The morning was nicer/brighter but it clouded over in the aft.

[angelicque]

excellent photos, guys!
i have only seen short eared owls there so far - i really hope i find the great horned one day

no bald eagle sightings?

[Jaedon]

Oh, the guy I saw was on his own, and had what looked to be a white L-series lens that was about 2 feet long (literally). Either way nice day for some hiking over there. The morning was nicer/brighter but it clouded over in the aft.

I've seen that guy before.  if it is the same guy I asked him what he was shooting with.  It was a 600mm prime F2.8 and he adds a 2x teleconverter to it as well.  Nice guy but a bit quiet and very secretive about the birds he is shooting.  I have seen him either with his bike or walking all depends on the ground conditions that day.

[Mathew Rossi]

Thanks for the details, I couldn't figure out what that lens was, must be a nice piece of gear!

[Mathew Rossi]

Hi all. I went through my pics again and with a little work this one turned out nicely. I like that he wasn't looking at me, he was actually a fair distance away when this was shot.



This past weekend I headed to Sam Smith hoping to see a Snowy Owl. Snow, cloud, and major windchill kicked in as soon as I arrived so I cursed for a bit and went home... I decided to go through my archives and found a few gems that benefited from a fresh look, hope you like.  These were taken at Mountsberg about 4 yrs ago.

[Anonymous]

Excellent perspectives.

Attila