JustinHoffman Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 (edited) Hello All, Made the trek over to Amherst Island (just west of Kingston at the town of Millhaven) with the folks to do some owl and raptor watching. Spotted 9 red-tail hawks on the drive down the 401, so spirits were high. Jumped on the ferry at 9:30am for the 15 minute crossing over to the island. Started driving the north-east loop of the island, spotting numerous hawks along the way. Made our way down to the southern shore, when my mother pointed out a bird that was flying to the left of our car right along the shore. Before I could make visual contact, she stated it was only a seagull. I finally spotted it 5o feet ahead of us, and knew by the size and shape that we had our first snowy owl sighting for the day! To make things even more exciting, it landed on a fence post a mere 200 feet away!! Got the camera ready with my 300mm telephoto, and began shooting out the side window. Every so often, I would creep the car forward, eventually getting less than 20 feet from it! Here's some closeups of this female snowy.. At this point, a car had pulled up a distance behind, and was waiting patiently to pass. We decided to drive right past the owl, and park further down on the shoulder. The other fella got out of his car and starting taking shots, and we did the same. At this point, I had the camera trained on the owl and was just about to press the shutter button, when the girl got spooked and flew up. The amazing thing is that the owl flew directly at me! I really love this next shot - not 100% in focus, but not bad to say I wasn't ready for a motion shot.. After this bird flew off, we spotted a male hunkered down in the brush a mere 100 yards from this girl. The one was pure white, but was too far away for a decent shot. We decided to stop for lunch at this point, then hike in to Owl Woods. This is a neat area of trees that houses quite a few species of owls, although the most common is the Long Eared. After a lengthy hike, we make our way into the woods. Within 30 seconds, I'm greeted by this fella.. We saw 25+ of these Long Eared in the woods! At one point, I witnessed four of the birds perched on one branch together...It's tough to get a decent shot in here, because there is so many twigs and branches on the trees. Also, the sky was pretty washed out and it was fairly dark under the canopy. Nonetheless, a couple turned out ok.. Headed back into the car, and began the western loop. Many, many raptors, including red-tailed, Merlin, Kestral, Northern Harrier etc... Conservative figures would put the raptor count at around 30+ So, a pleasant four hours spent on Amherst. Grabbed the 3pm ferry back to the mainland, and back to civilization.. Good Fishing, Justin Edited January 12, 2007 by JustinHoffman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccmtcanada Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 WOW!! Fantastic shots!!!! Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustink Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 yeah...Wow! Well done Justin. dk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headhunter Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 That shot of it taking flight is extraordinary! Well done! I couldn't help but thinking, boy it must be hard to cross that ferry and not have a line in the water!!! HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimace Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Awesome shots. I love owls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 real good shots but I think you are trying to fool us..I think you photoshopped a bunch of the pictures..as their heads seem to be on backwards in some of the pictures..........they sure can turn their heads around...lol..great stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GbayGiant Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Nice shots, that 300mm must be nice, great pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crappiesteve Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Great shots Justin,thanks Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BITEME Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Beautiful THANKS!!!!!! Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pameladallaire Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Thank you Justin. Just what I needed for snowy owls. Ron was so nice to go out and now you have gone out. You are both wonderful! I love the flying owl shot and the post shots. Thanks so much. I'll keep you posted with all the paintings. Pam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishindevil Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 WOW...i really like picture #5,those birds of prey look so awsome,owls are really stealth hunters and by the time their prey even gets a chance to reacted........BANG...its all over great pics keep em conning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinHoffman Posted January 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Thanks guys and gals.. Was a fun day out shooting, that's for sure... (As for trolling behind the ferry - the thought did cross my mind.. ) Good Fishing, Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjsa Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Pic # 5, couldn't ask, or predict, a shot like that one. Awesome Thanks for that Justin. P.S...........any chance of me getting a pm of the full sized pic of that owl in flight, that would make an awesome background pic for my pc, not that the one you posted would not work also. And I think you should put a watermark on that picture also, before it gets all over the net, with other people taking credit for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdj Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 2nd last photo you startled him, and if the looks could kill column we have Justin getting targeted by the last photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Excellent shots Justin. What day did you go? We were there on Saturday. Rain, cloudy, snow, Sun.... we had it all! We never saw that Snowy you got pics of, all ours were in the full white plumage. Do you go there often? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinHoffman Posted January 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Hey Ron, We were there on Sunday. Gorgeous day to be out, although the owl woods hike was muddy and wet as you know what! Good thing I brought the winter boots... We saw two snowys for the day - one pure white male, and the one I got the photos of. This is only my second time going. I do plan on heading there later this month, and am actually thinking about staying at a B & B for a night, just so I can do the early morning shoot and spend more time. Definitely a neat place, with plenty of birds to see! Good Shooting, Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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