Chasing the light

2012.07.24

We started off with Archie, a Long Eared Owl, in the woods.

Scrappy, the Little Owl, looked so cute among the flowers!

Kevin the Barn Owl. What a difference a few weeks make! Who'd have thought the scruffy individual I met on the 7th June would turn into a handsome fellow like this?

Fawkes is a Short Eared Owl - named after the Phoenix in Harry Potter!

The sun was getting pretty low in the sky by the time we photographed Florence, a Tawny Owl, and the light was wonderfully warm.

Fawkes got one last shot at the limelight, just before the sun dipped below the horizon.

A couple of nights ago Matt Binstead, head keeper of the British Wildlife Centre, announced on his blog that he was planning to run an owl evening for photographers at the centre tonight. With the gloriously sunny weather we’ve been having over the last few days (finally!) this was too good an opportunity to miss so I booked a place and headed over there for five o’clock.

There were ten of us booked in and we gathered in the centre’s cafe for a briefing from Matt before heading out. He had it all carefully planned, starting off in the woods with Archie, a long eared owl, to find some soft light and escape the steamingly hot sunshine. By the time we emerged from the woods the sun had dropped a little in the sky and we moved on to various spots around the Centre’s nature reserve with a selection of owls, making the most of the beautiful evening sunshine.

I was particularly pleased to meet Kevin, the barn owl again. When I photographed him back in early June he was barely more than a bag of fluff and bones but he was looking resplendent this evening with only a couple of tufts of fluff remaining. He posed for us on a wonderfully weathered old gate which Izzy, one of the Centre’s other keepers, discovered a few weeks ago. He was remarkably calm so at one point I decided to get in close and shoot him with my macro lens. Unfortunately this moment of bravery on my part coincided with a moment of bravery from Kevin. As I crouched down at one end of the gate he decided to hop along to investigate what I was up to and before I knew it I had a barn owl sitting on my head!! I can confirm that barn owl claws are really quite sharp but I wouldn’t have missed this close encounter for anything! As we drew closer to sunset we found ourselves chasing the light across the reserve before the sun finally dropped below the horizon. It was a fantastic evening and we all told Matt how much we’d enjoyed ourselves. I’m sure we’d all come back every week if we had the opportunity!

For various reasons I’ve had to post three days’ photos at once so not all of my posts will pop up on the front page of Photoblog. Please do take a moment to visit my other posts here and here as I hope you’ll enjoy the photos!

OH MY F* GOD!!!
I'M REALLY SORRY FOR THE WORDS, BUT OH MY GOD!! THESE ARE SUPERB!! TOOK 2 TO MY FAVORITES, BUT SERIOUSLY, THEY ALL SHOULD BE FAVORITES! PEOPLE YOU SHOULD FAVORITE THEM, and THEY SHOULD BE FP!!!

onlyricky · 2012-07-26: 16:06

and of course i'll check the links!! for sure!!!

onlyricky · 2012-07-26: 16:07

sorry can't resist, 1# goes to my favorite as well!

onlyricky · 2012-07-26: 16:07

fantastic photos, I added all the favorites are just fantastic

SergioDC · 2012-07-26: 16:11

AMAZING shots, what wonderful creatures

mazpics · 2012-07-26: 17:26

An amazing serie! I like them all! If I were an english speaking woman, I should have written more and more :))
I’ll put some in my favs, but I don’t know which ones!!!

miclaud · 2012-07-26: 17:27

What a great set! So sharp!

Lsample · 2012-07-26: 18:31

There is our wildlife master at work again! Beautiful Helen...

danrav · 2012-07-26: 19:41

What incredible adventure: an owl on the head!!!
I remember Kevin and to see him so beautiful is very pleasant! This bird, I steal him to you for the memory of the of barn-owls family which I had during years in my attic

josy63 · 2012-07-27: 00:23