My Owl Mission Part 3-Screech Owls

You can find screech owls all over the U.S., but the type to find in this region are Eastern Screech Owls. They have 2 morphs: red and gray. I have captured both digitally as shown above. These little guys are the second smallest of the owl genus for our area. They range from 9-10" in height and find tree cavities, for the most part for protection and nesting, although people have had success with nesting boxes. I put up one of my own, but have yet to attract one (although a squirrel has found it a nice place to chew on). They have large yellow eyes and large ear tufts. They eat insects in mid air and prey on small rodents. They have many calls, but the most distinctive, sounds like an eerie horse whinny. I found one (red morph) through a friend, whose sister had one in her tree cavity in rural Morris. The other (gray) was found at Morton Arboretum at the same time I found the saw-whet (see previous post). Both were sunning themselves at the entrance of their home, which is mainly when you can find them. They are the most common of owl species, but to find them is the allure for me. I have yet to discover one on my own without a tip.

Next: Part 4: Snowy Owls

My Owl Mission Part 4-Snowy Owls

Snowy Owls: They are birds of the Arctic Tundra. They are commonly found in Canada, Alaska, and northward. Some Snowy's venture southbound when their food source is scarce (voles and lemmings are their staples, but they do eat rabbits, pheasants and other small animals). The Chicago lakefront gets a few visitors almost every winter, which are mainly juveniles who lose their way. My first snowy was discovered 50 miles south of where I live. I found out about it through the birding hotline on Christmas Eve of last year. I didn't even think I would ever see one ever, so my plan was to go to the site on Christmas morning, before I went to meet my family for the holiday. The information I had was semi-specific, so I had road crossings and landmarks to check. None of that information has a guarantee of a sighting, but I didn't want to miss him if he was just resting on his wayward journey. I got up before dawn and headed for my destination along with my friend Pam. Our research led us to believe that the best time to find him would be at dawn when the snowy would be looking for breakfast, before finding a place to rest for the day. We followed our directions and were nearing our destination with our anticipation building with every mile. With our fingers crossed, we started slowing down and scanning the fields for anything white. We found alot of Walmart bags, and milk jugs cleverly disguised, and pushed on. We are in deep farm country, so crossroads were county roads marked with numbers that increased with each mile. We are getting to the crossroad we are looking for, so now we need to find a certain pole (a photo was taken with this pole) that has a hole in it about 2 inches down from the top. We pass the suspected pole and push on. We now need to find a rusty corrugated steel barn with 2 windows. Well, when you are in farm country, every barn is practically the same. We push on. We see a barn in the distance all by itself in the field. From where we were, it looked like something white was at the peak. Could it be? As we approach, we get our cameras ready. Yes! It is our first sighting of a freakin Snowy! We can't believe our luck. It was amazing to see him, because we are not supposed to. He doesn't belong here, and yet, here he is! We slowly came to a stop at a distant angle and snap a few shots. Our fear of his flying off was lessened with each passing minute. We inched forward, snapped a few, and inched more, gaining ground until we were parrallel to him. We grabbed our tripods, set them up outside our respective windows, threw on our remote shutter cables and snapped away. He never left. We were so entirely thrilled that he wasn't disturbed by us, that we thanked him and left. We came back a few more times after that, and found him in the cornfields, which was a difficult task. We also took some shots of him on a utility pole just as the sun was setting. What a magnificent creature to witness for a wildlife photographer who is used to common types found virtually everywhere if you have the patience and luck to look. He was such a prize!

Part 5-Great Horned Owls

My Owl Mission Part 2-Northern Saw-Whet Owls

My second owl species of this series is the (Northern) Saw Whet Owl. I got my first one last winter, when chasing a hot tip off of the birding hotline. I always want to discover one on my own, or it seems the chase is lost, but this little creature has eluded me for years. It was discovered at Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Il. It cost me $7 for admission to see it, but it was worth the effort for this tiny treasure.

Saw-Whet's are the smallest of our regions owls. Their height is 7-8" and have huge yellow eyes for their size. Their head seems to take up half of their height, and virtually has no visible neck. They are very scarce in this area, so to see one is pure luck. They can be found in small dense trees such as conifers, and their defense is none at all. They will sit still and not fly, leading people to percieve them as tame. They feed on small rodents such as deer mice, and I have read that they eat them as two separate meals. They can only handle smaller chunks, so to swallow one whole in one sitting could lead to choking and death.

It took me more than an hour to find him. My directions were extremely vague. I checked every conifer I could find in this massive area, searching each trunk for a small metal tag identifying its type . In arboretums, they tend to group "like" trees to regions, so checking each one was becoming exhausting and my extremities were not prepared for the amount of time I was spending in this type of weather. ( I wore sneekers, so my feet were soaked in the snow) I really thought I could walk right to it, since I had the species of tree it was in. (A weeping pine) I kept trekking on until I heard some voices ahead. I am hoping they are standing under the tree I seek. I see that they both have cameras, so I am pretty sure I found the spot. I say "saw-whet?" and they point up to an inner branch at the peak of the tree. I still couldn't see it. They tell me to look for the larger bowed branch near the trunk, and there it was. I took some test shots, and found the right settings. The lil guy was sleeping, so I got comfortable. I wanted the perfect shot, since I spent so much time and money, not to mention gas getting here. The other photographers left. I inspected the ground, and found plenty of whitewash and owl pellets (poop and vomit) to keep me entertained. If the guys were not there, I would love to think that I would have spotted it, since the evidence was everywhere. Anyway, I waited for quite some time, and the constant strain of looking up was taking its toll on my neck. I eventually got a shot with his eyes open (well, half open) that was half decent. I went up to the Arboretum several more times, but this shot is the best I got. I was hoping I could get a better angle, but the one you see was the "only" angle to shoot him. I am hoping to find one this year without the help of the hotline, and of course the perfect conditions for a perfect picture.

Part 3: Screech Owl

My Owl Mission Part 1-Short Eared Owls

Tis the season for owl hunting, if you are into that kind of thing, and I am! I can't wait for my first one of the winter season. There are many species of "owl" to seek in these parts. For instance, Part 1 of this series is: Short Eared Owls. SEO's are on the endangered species list. They are a medium sized rapter you can find in open fields soaring and hunting rodents, mainly in the winter months, acting alot like hawks, more specifically, the Northern Harrier. Their ear tufts are short, thus their given name. Their call is alot like the bark of a dog. It is sharp and high, like that of a "yippie" toy breed. They are not your typical "hoot" owl. You won't generally stumble upon them roosting, as most owls, although I have tried once, when I saw one land on a lower branch way off in the distance (it flushed as I approached). You mainly have to rely on the skies for spotting them. They compete with Harriers for food and territory, and I have witnessed the combats and aerial displays. I got my first shots of these guys last year at Goose Lake Prairie State Park. It wasn't a fun venture. When you prepare for this outing, expect alot of bone-chilling wind, along with deep-freezing temperatures. The trek into our "arctic" involves a complete lack of vanity. The knit hat, gloves, ear muffs, scarf, boots, tripod, your camera stuffed inside your coat, and lots of kleenex and patience makes for an uncomfortable few hours. Setting up for them isn't easy either. Short-Eareds are diurnal, but become most active at dusk. You have to deal with longer shutter speeds and tricky lighting. If you are lucky, the light will be enough to capture them as they fly without too much blur. The pictures above are a few I got last year, but as you can see, nothing worth much more than proof of their identity. The top photo is a "google image" of what they look like up close. Also, expect frustration, because with the waiting in the "tundra", its not a sure thing that they will be in your part of that tundra, for a shot. I spent plenty of evenings in the bitter extremes without taking a single shot. Is it worth it? It must be, because I am looking forward to that day I see them again, even in my "arctic frock", and of course, the pursuit for better shots of my favorite species, the owl.

Coming soon in this series: Long-Eared Owls, Snowy's, Saw-Whets, Screech's, Barred, Barn, and Great Horned.

Weekend Bucknanza Part 2

Big 10 pointer










A few more photos from the Bucknanza weekend!

Weekend Bucknanza!

This past weekend was extremely active for the deer population in my special part of the world that holds the best scenario and luck for spotting bucks. This awesome locale is so great, because I can drive thru wooded areas, along with prairie, and most of it is protected from hunters. I can cruize thru the area without limiting my view to a single site if I were to walk thru, or wait for the deer to pass me by, which wouldn't happen, because they would smell me first and avoid me all together. I saw 9 bucks on Saturday, and 3 on Sunday. Every single one was an individual I had not seen before. On Sunday, there was a guy near the road, which could, under the right lighting, be the perfect subject at the perfect distance for photographic perfection. It was still too dark to even attempt a shot. We (Big R, Cutti and I) waited in a parking lot a few miles down for a good half hour until the conditions brightened up a bit. The morning was dreery, and getting more light out of the morning wasn't happening, so we decided to take our chances and see if the massive buck might still be where we saw him in the dark. We set our cameras to an ISO of 800, and the shutter speed at 1/60. We couldn't force any more speed than that, shooting a 300 mm lens. As we drive to the area, we see him, and can't believe he stayed where he was. There can be plenty of traffic here, and with him sticking out, so close to the road, most drivers would stop to take a better look, and his senses would tell him to move away, but our luck held out and we approached slowly. He stood his ground, as did we, and took all the shots we wanted (2nd pic), and was able to drive off without disturbing him. We also found other bucks in various places, and most were 10 points or better. We saw a buck trying to mount a doe (way too far for a shot), an 11 pointer that had tines that were all jacked up (6th pic), a tiny 4 pointer, and another 10 pointer that had been in a fight with a wound on his mouth and a broken off tine(1st pic). All in all, it was probably the best weekend this season for our shots. The shotgun season starts next friday, so under those conditions, I am sure the deer will be scarce, trying to protect themselves in deep cover. Although this area is protected, the surrounding land is hunted, and shotgun blast sounds can travel long distances, but so can they(deer), so I am hoping they don't wander into this unprotected land and wind up on some egomaniacs wall as a "trophy". From what I have been told, buck meat is garbage, so if a hunter takes a buck, its for his rack, which is ultimately the most selfish "prize" in all of nature, since they throw away the carcass and keep the head. Oh, but their argument is that they do it for us, the people, and it is a service for keeping down the deer population, which in turn, creates less car accidents . Yeah, right! Although that is ultimately true, its not why they are hunting. Oops, sorry, I am stepping off my soap box now...enjoy the photos!

Bunch O Bucks

It was a great morning Saturday, going to my favorite spot for bucks. The rut season has begun, and from taking a look at these guys necks, the testosterone flowing thru their veins is quite evident and the ladies are in for a stressful few months.
I saw 5 different bucks, and was all excited for who I might meet on sunday, but didn't see even one. I did see a bald eagle though, so sunday was not a total loss, even though it was perched too far in the distance for a decent shot. The cool thing I did witness, was a doe chasing a buck ( photo of leaping buck). Typically, its the buck who won't leave the doe alone. Bucks can smell a doe going into estress and follow/chase her until she is ready (which could take days/weeks), or she gets away. But watching the reverse situation happen in front of me was very strange. She was ready for him, but he didn't want her. Hmmm... Bucks try to mate with as many as they can, and create a harem of girls that stay with him for protection from other bucks, and... they are also his own protection from hunters and other predators, using them as lookouts/sentries. Smart!