Barn Owls in January
24th January 2009
Barn owls are one of the UK’s endangered species, due to the changing management of agricultural land and loss of habitat, though perhaps with the worldwide recession there will be less call for barn conversions. As a consequence, most people’s encounters with barn owls takes place at bird of prey or falconry centres and displays. Some owls are born and bred in captivity, and as a result can’t be let loose into the wild.
All the birds at the Barn Owl Centre are either injured birds that have been taken in or are birds that can no longer be looked after by their keepers. One such bird is Leighton, and if you live in Hertfordshire you won’t need many guesses as to what species he is. For those that haven’t guessed yet, he’s a buzzard.
The Centre is a registered charity and promotes conservation and welfare of owls and birds of prey. There are flying displays, the birds are taken out to schools, there are special events that enable people to get close to the birds and take part in flying the birds too. In addition there are photography days, which are dedicated to the needs of photographers, though it must be said that doesn’t guarantee good pictures – if the bird doesn’t want to perform or just wants to get into mischief, then it will. As with all creatures, the welfare of the bird comes first.
It was on one such photography day, organised by Vince who runs the centre, which I attended, together with other photographers from ephotozine. We started at 11 am by taking shots of Leighton in flight, with varying degrees of success. However, everyone came away with at least one decent image. Leighton is a veteran poser which allowed the taking of carefully set-up portraits of him. While Leighton was flying around, a wild buzzard happened to drop by and cast an eye over what was going on.
We then had the opportunity to photograph Kaln the eagle owl in flight and in static poses. My best in-flight images were taken of Kaln. Credit must be given to Vince, and his assistant Juliette, for expertly flying and handling the birds. At one point, Kaln flew right over me, possibly no more than 30 cm above my head! There was only a very light breeze at times, which made it much better for the birds to (want to) fly.
Later in the afternoon, there was Hollow the tawny owl and Ashley the black barn owl. Ashley isn’t completely black like a crow, more of a dusky grey. This isn’t a genetic quirk, but a separate subspecies found in central and eastern Europe. When you think about it, a dark colour would appear preferable to stark white when you’re hunting at night. Having said that, given suitable habitat our white barn owls don’t have any problem finding food and raising chicks.
Although I’d been outside for almost five hours and the temperature hadn’t got above five degrees, I was only just starting to feel the cold. Being well wrapped up in layers helped, but it had been a very sunny day. Even at the end of January it was possible to detect a little warmth. Mind you, continually moving around carrying and using some heavy gear kept the blood flowing.
By now the sun was dropping low in the sky. Just before it dipped below the tops of the trees we were able to photograph Gyzmo the white barn owl amongst some bales of straw. A good way to end a great day that had been very enjoyable.
For more information on the birds and activities, visit the Barn Owl Centre site.
All the birds at the Barn Owl Centre are either injured birds that have been taken in or are birds that can no longer be looked after by their keepers. One such bird is Leighton, and if you live in Hertfordshire you won’t need many guesses as to what species he is. For those that haven’t guessed yet, he’s a buzzard.
The Centre is a registered charity and promotes conservation and welfare of owls and birds of prey. There are flying displays, the birds are taken out to schools, there are special events that enable people to get close to the birds and take part in flying the birds too. In addition there are photography days, which are dedicated to the needs of photographers, though it must be said that doesn’t guarantee good pictures – if the bird doesn’t want to perform or just wants to get into mischief, then it will. As with all creatures, the welfare of the bird comes first.
It was on one such photography day, organised by Vince who runs the centre, which I attended, together with other photographers from ephotozine. We started at 11 am by taking shots of Leighton in flight, with varying degrees of success. However, everyone came away with at least one decent image. Leighton is a veteran poser which allowed the taking of carefully set-up portraits of him. While Leighton was flying around, a wild buzzard happened to drop by and cast an eye over what was going on.
We then had the opportunity to photograph Kaln the eagle owl in flight and in static poses. My best in-flight images were taken of Kaln. Credit must be given to Vince, and his assistant Juliette, for expertly flying and handling the birds. At one point, Kaln flew right over me, possibly no more than 30 cm above my head! There was only a very light breeze at times, which made it much better for the birds to (want to) fly.
Later in the afternoon, there was Hollow the tawny owl and Ashley the black barn owl. Ashley isn’t completely black like a crow, more of a dusky grey. This isn’t a genetic quirk, but a separate subspecies found in central and eastern Europe. When you think about it, a dark colour would appear preferable to stark white when you’re hunting at night. Having said that, given suitable habitat our white barn owls don’t have any problem finding food and raising chicks.
Although I’d been outside for almost five hours and the temperature hadn’t got above five degrees, I was only just starting to feel the cold. Being well wrapped up in layers helped, but it had been a very sunny day. Even at the end of January it was possible to detect a little warmth. Mind you, continually moving around carrying and using some heavy gear kept the blood flowing.
By now the sun was dropping low in the sky. Just before it dipped below the tops of the trees we were able to photograph Gyzmo the white barn owl amongst some bales of straw. A good way to end a great day that had been very enjoyable.
For more information on the birds and activities, visit the Barn Owl Centre site.
