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Early bird - Little Owl
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
I haven't posted anything for a long time. I hope do it now more regularly. What put me off back then was some new weird copyright policies of this site that kept on changing. I do not really bother what they say now. Does not make any difference to me. My pictures are my own and no licence will be granted for any further use without my express consent.
Here we go:
Little Owl at RSPB Elmley Marshes nature reserve. Got a series of shots of this little fellow with a big worm.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The Little Owl (Athene noctua) is a bird which is resident in much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, Asia east to Korea, and north Africa. It is not native to Great Britain, but was first introduced in 1842,[1] and is now naturalised there. It was also successfully introduced to the South Island of New Zealand in the early 20th century.
This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most species of owl. The other grouping is the barn owls, Tytonidae.
The Little Owl is a small owl, 23-27.5 cm in length. The adult Little Owl of the most widespread form, the nominate A. n. noctua, is white-speckled brown above, and brown-streaked white below. It has a large head, long legs, and yellow eyes, and its white “eyebrows” give it a stern expression. This species has a bounding flight like a woodpecker. Juveniles are duller, and lack the adult's white crown spots. The call is a querulous kee-ik.
There is a pale grey-brown Middle Eastern type known as Syrian Little Owl A. n. lilith. Other forms include another pale race, the north African A. n. desertae, and three intermediate subspecies, A. n. indigena of southeast Europe and Asia Minor, A. n. glaux in north Africa and southwest Asia, and A. n. bactriana of central Asia. A recent paper in the ornithological journal Dutch Birding (vol. 31: 35-37, 2009) has advocated splitting the southeastern races as a separate species Lilith's Owl Athene glaux (with subspecies A. g. glaux, A. g. indigena, and A. g. lilith).
There are 13 recognized races of Little owl spread across Europe and Asia. The Little Owl was sacred to the goddess Athena, from whom it gets the generic name.
Behaviour and ecology
This is a sedentary species which is found in open country such as mixed farmland and parkland. It takes prey such as insects, earthworms, amphibians, but also small birds and mammals. It can attack birds of considerable size like game birds. It is partly diurnal and often perches boldly and prominently during the day.
It becomes more vocal in nights as the breeding season approaches. Nest location varies based on the habitat, nests being found in holes in trees, rocks, cliffs, river banks, walls, buildings etc.[2] It lays 3-5 eggs which are incubated by the female for 28–29 days, with a further 26 days to fledging. Little Owls will also nest in buildings, both abandoned and those fitted with custom owl nest boxes. If living in an area with a large amount of human activity, Little Owls may grow used to man and will remain on their perch, often in full view, while humans are around. |
uleko, Argus, Pitoncle, CeltickRanger, maurydv, Adanac has marked this note useful
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Hi Pekka,
i like the expression of the little owl with its big worm in the beak!
The subject is very interesting - the artistic aspect (composition, POV, etc.) or your pic is not outstanding.
Nevertheless good moment in nature.
TFS
Pierre
- uleko
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3396 W: 172 N: 3310]](https://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(10940) - [2010-12-08 22:57]
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Hello Pekka,
Great to see you back Pekka and I hope you'll keep on posting! This is a fantastic capture of the Little Owl enjoying a 'long' meal! Excellent focus and sharp details. Natural colours and well composed too.
TFS and best wishes, Ulla
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- Argus
(50626)
- [2010-12-09 2:43]
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Welcome back Pekka!
We need your fine quality postings, like this one of a Little Owl with his worm.
Excellent technical quality and a fine composition of a fine low POV.
Great shot,
Thanks and kind regards,
Ivan
Bonjour Pekka,
Agréable publication restituant relativement bien, sous une belle lumière, une scène réaliste de la vie sauvage.
A bientôt sur TN pour de nouvelles aventures.
Gérard
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- PeterZ
(49139)
- [2010-12-09 9:08]
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Hello Pekka,
What a surprise to see a photo from you. A what a photo! Very beautiful! Fantastic timing, sharpness, natural colours and taken from an ideal POV. Excellent composition. I like it very much.
Regards,
Peter
Hi Pekka
Beautiful photo with very good composition and good sharpness.
Regards, Christodoulos.
hello Pekka
Welcome back to TN, superb timing to shot this
very beautiful close-up photo of the Little Owl,
with a very fine POV and framing, very beautiful light,
superbly focused with great sharpness and details,
TFS
Asbed
Hallo Pekka,
a fantastic capture of the Little Owl, very good sharpness and splendid natural colours, just at right moment for a spectacular picture
TFS
Best regards
Maurizio
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- Adanac
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1273 W: 1 N: 6188]](https://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif)
(21378) - [2010-12-19 12:00]
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Hello Pekka, Splendid image of this owl making short work of it's meal. Your excellent camera work gives us an amazing view of this Little Owl, thank you very much Pekka.
Rick
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- GLEM
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor [C: 540 W: 87 N: 750]](https://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-n.gif)
(10) - [2011-01-01 9:15]
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hi Pekka,
very beautiful image, the specimen is he seems quite rare to grasp. Excellent earnings and colorful.
Gaetan
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 430 W: 10 N: 494]](https://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-s-g.gif)
(4536)