Birds in Nature - images of wild birds by Richard Ditch

Subject: Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)
Place: Gilbert, AZ, USA
Date: May 2004
Equipment: Nikon N90S, Nikkor AF-S 300/2.8 & TC20E (= 600/5.6), tripod, SB28
Film: Fujichrome Sensia 100
Exposure: Aperture priority matrix metered, fill flash @ -1.7
Scan: Minolta Dimage, cropped from top only

Commentary: Burrowing Owls displaced by the rapid urban expansion of the Phoenix metro area are being relocated to this park area in Gilbert, where artifical burrows are created and the owls are getting used to people (and less used to their dogs). I liked the way the backlight created a rim of light separating this bird from the green bushes in shadow behind it. Fill flash was used to balance the contrast extremes. I was unable with the scan to hold the detail in the edge that is visible in the slide.

View the same bird in a slightly different pose.