1600 Pixel - Large Images!
Superb staring with a pose!
This is easily the most common bird that we see during our tours. for the majority of the sighting, the starling is on the ground, feeding on ants and insects.
We were all very lucky here and this bird posed on a sweet perch for a few minutes, so we could work the angle and the background with our expert driver Mubarack. "Muba" is one of the finest drivers I have met in Tanzania with incredible sighting ability for distant birds and animals.
Another tour is now being planned for the near future... the "big cats" have a quite a few young, so we are looking for 3 guests only for a "fly into the Serengeti" in late March.
Big cats hunting will be the specialty of this tour!
If you might be interested, please contact me - ray@raymondbarlow.com
Love real nature in Africa.We returned home yesterday, February 21st 2020, from Tanzania. what a blast! So many amazing things to see and photograph. A black Mamba! Cheetah kill, sooo many birds, lions cubs in a tree, lions mating, leopards, elephants in for swim, and best of all - happy customers.
I will keep posting images in here when I have time to edit, lots to do including planning future tours. and wow, a cheetah mom training her cub to kill!
One highlight tour will be to "The Gambia!" superb for kingfishers, so many bird species, and chimpanzees January 2021.
Also, next February 2021 we have a target tour... cheetahs and lions making kills. More on all that soon!
Above, we have a female mother elephant nursing her calf. Interesting scene, and real true nature. We saw so many interesting situations, and animals engaging.
Love Africa
Please join me - Florida, India, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Newfoundland, Tanzania, Long Island, Ontario, Philippines, or choose a destination, and we will make it happen for you!
Thanks for looking., raymondAnother frosty day yesterday February 1, 2020 with the hawk owl. With him spending most of his time up in the trees with elevated view of the swamp, it was nice for us to have a lower perspective, with a background that looks better then the white sky.
A pretty snowfall without a lot of wind adds to the image, but makes focusing difficult for most cameras... not the Sony, amazing results as the a7r4 locked in straight away, and produced a nice result at iso 2000.
On the contrary, my Maria beside me had little success, as her Nikon D800 would not focus worth a *****.... so you can imagine how much we are looking forward to a 200-600 G Sony lens! Some day!
Thanks also to Harry for another fun day trip!
Northern Hawk Owl - Snow Shower
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 379.0mm iso1600After a vertical dive into the bulrush, the owl pops out with a nice catch for lunch! A big juicy vole. In the next few shots he lifts off to carry his meal to a nearby safety zone.
Northern Hawk Owl with a Vole!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 330.0mm iso2000Lift off pose! After moving the vole from his beak to his talons, he started his flight to a secure eating perch! Though I do think he stored the catch in a tree.
Real nature, no bait.
Northern Hawk Owl- heads up!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso2000In a fast attempt to get out of the marsh, and save the owls catch, he lifts off and power down-strokes to get elevated quickly. with relatively short stocky wings this takes a lot of power and wing speed.
He was up and away in a big hurry!
Northern Hawk Owl Downstroke
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso2000This is the third flight shot of the series, more to come.
Northern Hawk Owl with prey tucked away!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso2000In a fast attempt to get out of the marsh, and save the owls catch, he lifts off and power down-strokes to get elevated quickly. with relatively short stocky wings this takes a lot of power and wing speed.
He was up and away in a big hurry!
Northern Hawk Owl Downstroke
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso2000After 20 minutes or so of working in his "refrigerator", the hawk owl emerges with a nice flight across the marsh to hunt for another vole.
A few minutes later he dives right into the thick of the bulrush, and comes out with a nice fat vole. Another awesome real nature experience today, Jan 26, 2020. Images soon!
Thanks to Harry Hersh for joining me once again in the chilly cool weather!
Northern Hawk owl in Flight 5
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso4000While waiting for the hawk owl to come out of hiding, we tracked a pair of Downy woodpeckers, foraging in the woods. Here the male produced a cute pose, all proud of himself as her gets ready for mating and springtime nesting.
So much fun shooting with this Sony kit in the forest. The AF was awesome through the bush twigs, and distractions.
True nature is best.
Downy woodpecker
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso5000A hawk owl will usually save the kill, stuffing it into a protected area like a thorny bush, or an old tree cavity created by woodpeckers. The meal will stay cold and probably frozen for a later date when the bird is hungry and hunting is not going so well.
We watched the owl find this old cache and move it to a new storage location, about 60 yards from the original stash. It almost looks like he is try to make positive sure the dove is quite dead!
Love real nature.
Moderate crop at 8,000 iso, and a very easy edit. Unfortunate with the birds beak cutting across the eye of the bird, but still happy to enjoy the experience.
Northern Hawk Owl with a Mourning dove
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/800s f/5.6 at 385.0mm iso8000Another quick take off shot with the hawk owl. iso 4000, and a nice job by the A7r4 to carry some sweet resolution after processing out the noise.
This bird is so fast, I am happy to catch any king of flight shot!
Hope to go back this weekend!
Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso4000A large crop with this image, but worth a try!
Our owl decided it was time for a bath, as the mild weather created a small pool of water in the pond at the swamp. Too many reeds in the way from my view, so we didn't get a shot of the washing, but an interesting behavior to witness at least.
The a7r4 performs well in low light, as the heavy overcast did not give us much to work with. Thanks again Jane and Diane!
Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/4000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso3200ISO goes up!
A7r4 iso at 64,000 looks not too bad here. I hope it works this well in Africa!
Thanks to sisters Jane and Diane for joining me for a day in the field with this superb owl. The both captured amazing shots!
Let's hope this owl sticks around for a few more weeks so we can enjoy the beautiful and real nature.
Northern Hawk Owl @ 64,000 iso
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/5000s f/18.0 at 400.0mm iso64000When an owl lands in front of you!!
Right place right time, and all those hours of hanging around can pay off!
Very lucky for us photographers, and this Hawk owl to have such a treat. This is not a lion killing a wildebeest, but almost as cool to see. Our owl flew down into the ditch within 12 feet of our cameras, and did his thing to help him survive the cold winter.
We could see and hear the vole struggling to get away, but in the end, it was carried off to the nearby woods to be stored for a future meal.
Amazing and real nature, never baited., and you can clearly see why I will never bait.
Northern Hawk owl and his Vole
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/8.0 at 250.0mm iso4000Real!
Wild and true nature! Lunch time with the hawk owl.
Neat to watch how this bird dealt with its prey, up close and personal! Hoping for another chance soon!
4000 iso, with 0 NR.
Northern hawk owl preparing lunch 2
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/8.0 at 250.0mm iso4000That Look!
Life is good when your into nature, and a difficult bird sits down on a cool perch, with a nice background and gives you that awesome look!
As if to say " what the heck are you looking at man!"
O well, happy or not, it was fun.
Through my experience with this new a9 Sony, I am learning how critical the exposure setting are (along with everything else!). Interesting, this frame was shot about 1.5 stops under, and the noise needed to be corrected., even at a relatively low iso for this camera.
With 2500 iso on the Sony a9, we usually do not expect any noise, so I am now going to spend more effort with watching the histogram and exposure settings with both of my Sony bodies.
You might not see the noise here with this small file, The 32x18" print size image fike I produce with every edited shot shows just a bit more noise then I am happy with, so some extra blurring to the background was applied.
All good, looking forward to more next week, after this weather clears! We hope!
Northern Hawk Owl eye to eye
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso2500Another interesting day with the Hawk Owl, unfortunately we didn't get a good angle for a background today, so blah white sky behind the bird.
next time!
Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha A9,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso6400Another interesting day with the Hawk Owl, unfortunately we didn't get a good angle for a background today, so blah white sky behind the bird.
next time!
Northern Hawk Owl in flight!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha A9,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso6400Another interesting day with the Hawk Owl, unfortunately we didn't get a good angle for a background today, so blah white sky behind the bird.
next time!
Northern hawk owl preparing lunch
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso6400The owl took a dive into the snow, missed the kill and came back up to look for more! I am happy to have iso 4000 usable on this camera, to gain shutter speed when needed.
Another fun experience! Heading back tomorrow if all goes well!
Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/5000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso4000Zero Noise Reduction!
iso 4000 is the setting on my a9, so in post processing, this image was just fine as is!
Neat situation, we are standing on the roadside, the owl perches a few feet above the sidewalk, we give it plenty of room, and wow, it flies into the ditch within 12 feet of me. so much for the theory of disturbing the poor owl!
Remarkably, the hunt was successful! And the vole was far from happy., so as they say that is life. This is 1 of at least 100 shots with this encounter, too many to choose from when the fps is 20!
At this point, the owl was ready for lift off, and proceeded to the trees to store the food for a later date. Good fun!
Northern Hawk Owl with fresh lunch!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/8.0 at 250.0mm iso4000This owl has lunch in sight!
Image taken just before it hovered for 9-10 seconds.
Northern Hawk Owl hunting
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/800s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso1000Every once in a while, it pays to be tenacious. Sit and wait, put in the time then hope for a good chance, also! - be prepared!
8 trips north to watch this owl get along in a natural environment with influence from nature photographers. There always seems to be a good crowd hanging around, enjoying the beauty of nature., and yes it gets ridiculous when some people take selfishness to the limit. enough said.
There was a good steady breeze, as this owl was moving from hunting perch to perch. At one point it saw a chance for a vole, flew over to have a closer look, and decided to hover for about 9 seconds! It was the gift we all wanted!
I was able to fire 70+ shots, and thanks to Sony, each shot is tack sharp.
As I was testing the iso limits of the A7r4 camera, at this point I was shooting at 4,000 iso. Too high for some? Maybe, but I was up into the 10,000 + range earlier., and hope to test more before Africa in a few weeks.
Thanks to my friend and guest Harry Hersh for joining this trip. Another amazing experience for us! and we have had a few!
Thank you for looking.
Northern hawk Owl Hovering 1
Ontario, Canada
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/5000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso4000In this 2 image set - So here the hawk owl struggles with it's cache, as the wet snow we had previously has frozen the food to the trunk of the tree. So off it goes, moving on to another meal in a small pine tree, but we were too far to see how successful this owl was with its second choice.
Northern Hawk Owl with Lunch 1
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/800s f/5.6 at 318.0mm iso640
My comments regarding the "mob" scene at the owl location north of Toronto.
Several times I have seen the owl so close to the road, within 6-12 feet of large delivery trucks driving by., and completely indifferent to the situation. I am happy this bird came to visit us, and is sharing its natural life with nature enthusiasts of all kinds. the bird is completely undisturbed by humans.
Obviously like your back yard birds, it would leave if there was an issue. How many times have you got in your car and slammed your door to flush birds, how many times have you driven by a bird who flew away because you were too close. This is the reality of humans on earth interacting with nature. If a lion was walking through your local park, you and your family would scatter. this is nature.
The photographers who share the beauty of these birds will help everyone appreciate the beauty of nature, so long as they are respectful. Yes, a few bad ones will give us all a bad name, as they act like delinquent morons, but that again is life on earth.
Drive down the 401, and you will see a ton of those idiots who have no respect. Again, that's life on earth. We all have to deal with it, as frustrating as it is.
We cannot avoid causing interruptions to natures world. And please keep in mind, this is a free country, people have a right to go to a mall with mobs of people shopping, people have a right to stand on the road taking photos of the real world.
There is no way to avoid interacting with nature, no matter where you are or what your doing, nature is taking a real hard level of disrespect from our human race. We need to embrace nature, and learn to change our lifestyle, and hopefully reduce the contamination as a result of humans on this planet.
We need to support companies who are developing the "green" culture in this world, moving towards a sustainable future for our children. Greed and profit need to take a back seat for a while until we clean up this mess.
I do hope people wake up, and appreciate what we have, and realize the concept of "more" needs to be applied to living in a healthier planet.In this 2 image set, the hawk owl struggles with it's cache, as the wet snow previously has frozen the food to the trunk of the tree. it moved on to another meal in a small pine tree, but we were too far to see how successful this owl was with its second choice.
Northern Hawk Owl with Lunch 2
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/320s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso640Longtailed Ducks in Flight
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso1250Guys and Gals
The chase is on! Mating season for these duck is close, as the boys chase the girls in an effort to impress. A slight mix up in species, so I am sure they will work things out!
A7r4 on the mechanical shutter, shooting at 10 fps, with not quite enough depth of field. f7.1 would have brought all three birds at the back of the race in focus. Next time!
Thanks for looking!
Ducks in Flight
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso800Timothy Story, myself, and Victoria Koroleva after along day with the birds of southern Ontario!, good fun, lots of laughs, good friends and some fun shooting. Later a nice dinner in Stoney Creek, a treat from Victoria!
Capping off a good year in 2019, and looking forward to 2020!
Samsung phone image.A little bit of sunlight can go a long way to brighten up the colours, and speed up the camera. This owl was active for about 3 hours one day last week , and great fun shooting! Dodging all the people was difficult, but that is the reality of a popular owl in Ontario.
The a7r4 did a good job keeping up with the bird with most flight shots, still hoping for a software upgrade soon! The busy background is a bit disappointing, so regardless, I edited this shot since I like the flight pose with the wings down. Hopefully another chance soon.
Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/4000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso640Dinner was frozen to the tree!
The owl pulled and scratched at it's meal, but the cold weather would not allow it to release the meal. Real nature at its best, so much fun to watch and see this bird carry on and perform for us all.
Northern Hawk Owl with Frozen Dinner
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/500s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso640Fading light!
Still a good chance to test the limits of the a7r4, these speedsters really motor along. Using the mechanical shutter to get a good freeze at 61 mp is the critical setting for the a7r4.
I am happy with the dynamic range, and high iso resolution with this camera, and the 100-400 seems to be a good fit for my budget. The 600 f4 is just a bit out of range!
Some day!
thanks for looking!
Male Long-tailed duck in Flight
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/2000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso1250Timothy Story and Victoria Koroleva Industrial
Ontario, Canada
My friends and guests for the day out for a photo hike, watching the sun go down over Hamilton, Ontario. I was standing near the lift bridge, and warming up the car for the ride to the restaurant.
What a fun day with my friends!
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/4000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso3200Another visit to the Canal recently with Victoria Koroleva and Timothy Story, great fun with the ducks! One of the best "Birds in flight" locations I know of, world wide! The Mergansers are just coming into full colour plumage, so the next couple of months should be fun.
I really am enjoying the a7r4 camera, But I do wish for the 400 2.8 Sony lens! Some day! For now, the 100-400 GM will be excellent for Africa soon, and hopefully we will see some amazing real nature in the Serengeti.
Join my next tour to Tanzania coming up in August 2020, or a visit with the Tigers of India in June 2020!
Red-breasted merganser in Flight
Ontario, Canada
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso800Thanks to my guests Victoria and Timothy Story!
iso 500!
And still able to catch 1/5000 of a second at f5.6... so cool! Bright sun and a very fast moving bird... lightning with feathers!
One more try tomorrow, and we will see what happens.
Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/5000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso5005000?
A dark over cast morning, and we are hoping for a bit of light.
I had just finished dropping off my guests at the central hangout area for this bird,
and parked the car in an adjacent parking lot to a field where our owl hunts.
Guess who lands 30 feet from my car.!! With my height, I was just able to catch a shot
through the sumac bush, as it gave me a nice pose just for a few minutes.
We had a good day with this owl, fun shooting, then another visit to the long tailed ducks in Burlington. More soon!
Also, as a foot-note, i am quite happy with the resolution at 5000 iso on the A7r4!
thanks for looking!
Northern Hawk Owl
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony A7riv,Sony 100-400GM
1/800s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso5000An eye level perch with falling snow was the most awesome opportunity!
Mitchell brown and I had some fun here in the chilly air north of Toronto. What a cool
photo opportunity!
We head back up for Saturday.
Northern Hawk Owl
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony A7riv,Sony 100-400GM
1/320s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso640Hungry Owl!
Mitchell Brown and I arrived on the scene once again, to try for another cool shot of this amazing Northern Hawk owl.
It was perched really high on a distant tree, so w waited! Maybe an hour in the freezing cold. Hoping for some sort of perched shot, with the nice snow falling, the bird came down to eye level on a neat perch for a visit.
Amazing!
As it was hungry, we could see it struggling to dislodge the vole that was stored in the branches here. I would say the struggle went on for at least 5 minutes before the owl gave up and heading off to the distant woods, out of sight. so off for a coffee, and the drive home from there, listening to awesome music that Mitchell and I both enjoy.
Special thanks to buddy Mitch, good fun as always!!
Northern Hawk Owl and the Meal
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony A7riv,Sony 100-400GM
1/800s f/5.6 at 318.0mm iso640I have no idea whether this bird is male or female, but what a cute pose! superb and beautiful nature enjoyed by an overwhelming number of photographers, both with very long lenses, and with cell phones.
it is very unfortunate that people complain about the number of bird watchers there, we live in a free country, where we all may make our choices. If one feels they are bothering the birds, please stay home.
This bird has it's choices too. It may stay as long as it is happy, and life works for it, or it may choose to go to a new location. These particular birds seem to be so confident around people. I have watched them before, they carry on with there lifestyle as if no one was there.
The worst thing for me is when a person complains about people being there, but all fine and dandy for them to hang around for hours. Easily the pure selfish of the crowd., much like the idiots on our highways who weave in and out because they want to go 145 kms per hour, and everyone else is an idiot.
Makes me nuts! Ok, enough ranting, enjoy and respect nature!
Northern Hawk Owl Dancing like a Princess!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony A7riv,Sony 100-400GM
1/2500s f/5.6 at 330.0mm iso1250With the A9 Sony firing at 20 frames per second, catching a lift of sequence is a lot of fun!
I am really looking forward to the weekend and some return trips to visit this owl!
Great to get some practice in before Africa! Both of these 2 new Sony cameras come with a large learning curve. Great and awesome!
Northern Hawk owl in Flight 4
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha A9,Sony 100-400GM
1/5000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso640I am so glad I took this photo, we often forget in the haste of the moment to stop and take a photo to share with our friends. Diane Doran, my special guest for the day was so awesome with amazing images and great fun!
We shared a lot of Sony tech info, as we worked hard to catch a few images! Thanks Diane!!
I hope to see you again soon.Northern Hawk owl Take Off
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha A9,Sony 100-400GM
1/5000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso640A wonderful day out shooting with my friend and guest, Diane Doran. Our owl did not disappoint us, with numerous flights and diving attempts trying to make a kill. More trips up north coming soon!
Join me? ray@raymondbarlow.com
9055208853
Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony A7riv,Sony 100-400GM
1/2500s f/5.6 at 330.0mm iso1250Northern Hawk owl in Flight 3
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha A9,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso1250