Today I am proud to present the second part of my eagle owl series.
These images are not really representative of what you normally experience at the quarry. The following 25 pictures were taken only in the few short moments when the eagle owls flew down once from the stone wall and sat on the stones and birch trees below.
Then the photographer pulse shot up and I just tried to give my best 😅
They always tried to spot prey. They often moved their heads slowly and looked either at the ground or steeply upwards when other birds were circling in the sky.
Sitting close to them was really impressive: eagle owls are almost as big as golden eagles and can move their head about 270 degrees, which looks stunning in combination with the fascinating eyes. Their claws are also remarkable - eagle owls have a grip strength of several hundred kilograms and often kill their prey within seconds.
Before the start of the series I would not have dreamed of being able to observe them there so close, but as already indicated in the first series: „much helps a lot“ is the motto here, I had quite fought for the luck with the 51 visits 😉
After the last series I was asked how the photos were technically created: all photos are shot with a Nikon d850 and a Nikon 600/4 FL, some also additionally with 1.4 teleconverter.
The "base" was a Gitzo GT3543XLS with a RRS-BH55. The seemingly more suitable Sachtler ACE-XL fluid head I also always had with me and photographed with it for the first few days; however, my focus was not on flight shots, but on series 2 and 3 subjects, and with these rather static subjects a good ball head offers certain advantages. Especially when it has to go fast, you want to adjust the tripod height immediately, you can not still level the tripod head and you do not want to loosen the lens clamp.
Now I wish you a lot of fun with this second part of my eagle owl series 👋
I hope you enjoyed the second series 😃 Stay tuned for the last part 🖐
Many greetings,
Thomas