Pygmy falcon hunting.
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., raymond
After 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 iso2000
Lift 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 iso2000
In 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 iso2000
This 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 iso2000
Airborne and away traveling to the next perch to decide what to do with the latest kill!
Northern Hawk Owl Lift Off!
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso2000
After 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 iso4000
A 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 iso8000
Another 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 iso4000
A 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 iso3200
ISO 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 iso64000
When 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 iso4000
Real!
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 iso4000
That 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 iso2500
Another 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 α9 ,Sony 100-400GM
1/4000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso4000
Another 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 iso6400
Another 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 iso6400
The 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 iso4000
Zero 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 iso4000
This 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 iso1000
Every 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 iso4000
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 1
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/800s f/5.6 at 318.0mm iso640
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 iso640
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 iso640
Dinner 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 iso640
a7r4 100% crop
Camera kit supported with the Jobu Algonquin Tripod, and the Jobu Jr. gimbel head. This is the original file, slightly adjusted.
Full frame Sony a7r4 camera, and the 100-400 GM Sony lens
ps., I was quite cold and shivering!!
Northern Hawk Owl @ 100% crop
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/500s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso640
a7r4 100% crop
Camera kit supported with the Jobu Algonquin Tripod, and the Jobu Jr. gimbel head. This is the original file, slightly adjusted.
Full frame Sony a7r4 camera, and the 100-400 GM Sony lens
ps., I was quite cold and shivering!!
Northern Hawk Owl @ 100% crop
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha α7R IV ,Sony 100-400GM
1/500s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso640
5000?
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 iso5000
Hungry 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 iso640
An 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 iso640
I 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 iso1250
With 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 iso640
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 iso640
7R403665 Northern Hawk Owl Lift off 1200 web
Northern 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
Northern Hawk Owl in Flight 1
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha A9,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso1250
Northern Hawk Owl in Flight 2
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha A9,Sony 100-400GM
1/3200s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso1250
A snowy rainy day today, but a fun trip north to visit the bird of the year for us! Hope to go back on Monday!
Thanks to my sweet Maria for another great day outdoors!
What a beauty!
Northern Hawk owl
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony Alpha A9,Sony 100-400GM
1/1600s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso3200
Northern Hawk Owl
Ontario, Canada
http://www.raymondbarlow.com
Sony A7riv,Sony 100-400GM
1/1250s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso640
A nice trip to North of Toronto today with great news from my friend about a Northern Hawk owl. A couple hour of shooting gave us a few nice chances. Hoping to go back soon!
Northern Hawk Owl
Ontario, Canada
Sony A7riv,Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5–5.6 GM OSS
1/1000s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso1000
A7r4 is something else! Thanks to Patrick Ng for all the help at Downtown Camera, Patrick Ng was awesome to get me going on this machine before I left the store! He spent over an hour we me, with lots of details!
So yesterday a pm from my buddy Tim Story gave me a lead on our owl here, so Maria and I headed out with Daisy after her work, and we got things set up to shoot using my Jobu Algonquin tripod, and we were off and running when this tiny owl popped up to have a visit with us. Quite the amazing little creature, not much bigger then a pop can.
Maria and I went through all the settings, amazing and fun learning this new rig. Soooooo advanced compared to a dslr. A techies dream! At first, it is a bit overwhelming, but chip away at it, and one step at a time it will be set up, and memorized.
I am thrilled with the 100-400GM, killer sharp, and easy to work with!
Eastern Screech Owl - Adult red morph.
Burlington Ontario
ray@raymondbarlow.com
Sony a7r4,Sony 100-400GM
1/60s f/7.1 at 400.0mm iso1250
Osprey family with a catfish dinner!
Thanks to buddy Bruce Kennedy for sharing this cool location!
A bit of a drive for us, but it was worth it!
Osprey dinner for 3!
Ontario, Canada
Photo tours!
ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 500mm f/4D IF-ED
1/1250s f/4.0 at 500.0mm iso800
Almost eye level nest, with a sweet background. What a great experience here in Ontario, Canada! This fledgling was doing some laps getting used to landing , flying on its own, and doing very well I should add.
Love real and true nature.
Osprey in Flight
Ontario, Canada
Coming in for a landing!
"Day trips with Raymond"
3 guests max
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 500mm f/4D IF-ED AF-S II
1/1250s f/4.0 at 500.0mm iso1000
Another good day out shooting real nature with Mitchell Brown, Roger Daigle, Bruce Kennedy and friends. After 2 trips to Ontario's east side, I am wishing I lived up there! A visit to the Kennedy property, with all the history was amazing, such a beautiful location, a dream home!
The osprey were fun, lots of Catfish on the menu. Looks like good tasting in a way! This trip is a crazy long day, usually over 20 hours! But if anyone wants to go, I am up for another try!
Thanks to Harry Hersh for letting me give his lens a workout!
East of Brockville Ontario.
Thanks for looking!
Osprey Feast
Day tours in Ontario.
ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 500mm f/4D IF-ED AF-S II
1/1600s f/4.0 at 500.0mm iso800
Eastern Ontario with Bruce Kennedy and Roger Daigle!
A very young Osprey doing some test flights over it's nest! What an awesome scene to watch, so much fun.
Out there with real nature and my 13 yr old daughter, enjoying the fresh air, along with a family of 5 osprey on their nest.
Then, we have the 5 hour drive home with Supertramp, Zeppelin, Stones, Rush, Sabbath and company on the sound system - Loving life!
Looking forward to the next trip! Thanks to my friends out east for the location, and good company. Take care.
A fun night out with Maria, visiting friends up near Cornwall - Bruce Kennedy and Roger Daigle, along with this superb Osprey Family. 2 Adults, and three chicks, (almost fledglings) as all five of these birds were very entertaining.
Some rain, some distant lightening, a bunch of laughs, and a long drive home at the end of the day. We hope to pay another visit within the next week. 100's of pics to filter through, I hope Maria will post one of her images soon., I think she did well.
Osprey in the Rain
Eastern Ontario
ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Swarovski Spotting Scope - 95mm Optic
1/800s f9.5 iso1600
3 trips south to see this nest in the last 2 weeks, good fun, awesome opportunity.
Daisy and Maria tagged along for this one, unfortunately the clouds were just a little too heavy. This one took some processing, much more then I am used to, but in the end, I am happy with the shot.
This branch is about 25 yards away from the nest, and getting a clear view though all the twigs is difficult at best. Soon the leaves will be in full form, and the fun will be over!
Eagles On Watch
Raymond Barlow USA - Wildlife and Nature
ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Swarovski Spotting Scope - 95mm Optic
1/320s f9.4 iso3200
Long before sunrise, these 2 eagles decided it was time to play! too low on the iso, and the shutter speed, as it was still quite dark, so I am happy to have something!
Edited with DxO software.
We might go back for a couple days on the weekend.
Bald Eagles
Raymond Barlow USA - Wildlife and Nature
ray@raymondbarlow.com
Nikon D850 ,Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR
1/320s f/5.0 at 400.0mm iso1600