{"id":7235,"date":"2009-06-23T19:54:52","date_gmt":"2009-06-24T03:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moosepeterson.com\/blog\/?p=7235"},"modified":"2009-06-23T19:54:52","modified_gmt":"2009-06-24T03:54:52","slug":"northern-hawk-owls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/northern-hawk-owls\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Hawk Owls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reprinted from the BT \t\tJournal<\/a>, Vol. 6, Issue 2, May, 2001<\/p>\n

\"Northern“It’s an INVASION!!!” he \t\t\texclaimed. I’d just gotten off the plane, Pro Trekker on my back, Eagle \t\t\tCreek Monster Trunk in one hand and Lowepro Madison 1100 computer case \t\t\tbalanced atop the Lowepro Pro Roller 2 in the other hand as my good \t\t\tfriend Arthur Morris greeted me with overwhelming excitement. We had \t\t\tmet in Nome, Alaska to photograph birds in June of 2000, venturing \t\t\tthere primarily for the fabulous shorebirds in breeding plumage. The \t\t\tlast thing either one of us expected or planned on was an invasion!<\/p>\n

Artie went on to say, “there are 14 Northern Hawk Owls here; they \t\t\thaven’t been here in nearly 80 years!” Now I’ve seen hawk owls for \t\t\tyears in Alaska and for one reason or another, every time I had an \t\t\topportunity to take their photo something would happen so I would end \t\t\tup getting skunked. Artie’s news didn’t excite me much, knowing my \t\t\tprevious track record with hawk owls and when I relayed this to Artie \t\t\the replied, “folks are seeing them everywhere, point blank range!” I \t\t\tknew better than to go by what “folks” had been seeing (been down that \t\t\troad before) and since Artie hadn’t seen them yet I paid the invasion \t\t\tno never mind. That was at least until the next morning, our first \t\t\tdrive on the tundra of Nome.<\/p>\n

Driving out of town on the Iditarod route into Nome, we headed towards \t\t\tone of the small “villages.” We traveled through the village and went \t\t\tall the way to the bend in the road, reaching the “train to nowhere” about \t\t\t22 miles out. We were both scanning both sides of the road the entire \t\t\ttime, looking for any birds to photograph and much to our great disappointment, \t\t\tsaw darn few. So few we never got out of the car to even set up our \t\t\tcameras, once! A few words crossed both of our minds as we realized \t\t\tthat either we were way too early or the birds were late in arriving. \t\t\tWe’ve been there, done that before with tundra nesters in Churchill; \t\t\twe know the drill all too well!<\/p>\n

We turned around and headed back down the same road we had just driven, \t\t\tour eyes still peeled for anything bird like, anything! Then, there \t\t\tsitting atop a pole was a small silhouette, perched with its back to \t\t\tus, backlit. We went forward until we could identify the bird, it was \t\t\ta Northern Hawk Owl! Well, we proceeded to get our gear out and set \t\t\tup when Artie said, “it’s flown off.”<\/p>\n

That was my typical experience with the hawk owl, so I put my gear \t\t\tback into the car and proceeded down the road. We were coming into \t\t\tthe village that we had passed through earlier when we saw another \t\t\thawk owl off to our left and just a few feet above the ground. This \t\t\ttime my bad luck was going to end, as the drought was over and it was \t\t\tabout to pour! I would finally have a photograph (or a couple thousand) \t\t\tof the illusive Northern Hawk Owl.<\/p>\n

Nome was my “transition” shoot when I finally decided at the end \t\t\tof two weeks that I would no longer shoot conventional film. This came \t\t\tabout from shooting for two weeks, switching back and forth between \t\t\tthe F5 and the D1. That’s the way it was when I suited up to do battle \t\t\tthis first time with the Northern Hawk Owl. With the D1 on the 600f4 \t\t\tAFS with TC-20e attached, I figured I had all the horsepower I could \t\t\tmuster to get a nice image (that’s 1800mm of horsepower!). In my vest \t\t\tpockets were the TC-14e and F5, 20+ rolls of Agfa RSX 100 II and Lexar \t\t\tMedia CompactFlash cards. I was ready to rock and roll!<\/p>\n

In total sync, Artie and I worked our way the hundred yards from \t\t\tthe back of the vehicle around the owl to photograph it frontlit. The \t\t\tworld around us was quiet; you could hear a lens cap drop for miles. \t\t\tAnd you could see for mile after mile after mile on the Nome tundra, \t\t\tbeing as flat as a board and just as bare. In this setting we approached \t\t\tthe owl as stealthily as 600mm armed photographers can. The ground \t\t\tall around us was covered with last year’s dead grasses that crunched \t\t\twith each step, emitting such noise that I’m sure could be heard all \t\t\tthe way back to Nome. Despite all of this, the owl stayed put, “teed” up \t\t\tto photographic perfection.<\/p>\n

Slowly, ever so painfully slow, we walked around to get into position \t\t\tto shoot. We set down our tripods for the first frames, some distance \t\t\taway still from the owl. I put my eye up to the viewfinder, expecting \t\t\tat any moment for the owl to fly. I was finally looking through the \t\t\tviewfinder and focusing on a Northern Hawk Owl and just as the lens \t\t\tsnapped into focus, the owl flew! Since I shoot with both eyes open, \t\t\tI saw the owl had flown a very short distance to our right, actually \t\t\tgiving us a better background. Now if we could just get the owl in \t\t\tthe viewfinder again!<\/p>\n

We picked up our cameras and slowly, ever so slowly again moved towards \t\t\tthe owl. The distance wasn’t more than 20-30 yards when we set down \t\t\tour tripods and captured the first frames of Northern Hawk Owl. The \t\t\tjinx was broken! Over the next fifteen minutes, Artie and I moved in \t\t\tcloser, perfected our angles for the best background and started to \t\t\tbang away flashcard after flashcard, roll after roll.<\/p>\n

We had worked our way up to the owl so we no longer were using the \t\t\t2x but rather the 1.4x. Just then, the owl flew off again, this time \t\t\tgoing some ways up the beach. Once again, we picked up our gear and \t\t\tfollowed. Again the owl let us approach and we started ripping off \t\t\tthe film again and filling up the flashcards. (Switching between the \t\t\tF5 & D1 got old fast!) In fact, it occurred to both of us that \t\t\tphotographing this owl was getting down right easy! There had to be \t\t\ta reason for our being able to approach the owl so closely now, shooting \t\t\twith just the straight 600mm, right out in the open.<\/p>\n

The mood and behavior of the owl seemed to have changed since it \t\t\tlanded on this newest perch. The “lazy” attitude it had as if it were \t\t\tjust shaking off a hangover was replaced with the alertness of a guard \t\t\tdog on duty. The owl’s head was turning left and right, upside down, \t\t\tevery which way as it peered down into the grasses all around us. I \t\t\thad been so wrapped up in just getting close and capturing this cool \t\t\tlittle dude on film, I hadn’t taken time to look at the grasses we \t\t\twere walking through on the sandy beach.<\/p>\n

I stopped and started to look at the grasses in the direction the \t\t\towl was studying so closely. I didn’t see a thing but I did hear, ever \t\t\tso faintly, rustling in the grasses once in a while. I just assumed \t\t\tthat it was a slight breeze causing the noise. We were kneeling on \t\t\tthe ground, photographing the owl, as the perches were pieces of driftwood, \t\t\tno more than knee high. All of a sudden, something ran up my pant leg \t\t\tfor a brief moment. It really startled me, but I never saw what it \t\t\twas. The hunt was on for me to find out what was in the grass.<\/p>\n

I stared and stared until finally I saw a dash of brown fur right \t\t\tin front of us. I kept watching when I suddenly saw another brown fur \t\t\tblur, then another! We were in the midst of a vole explosion and the \t\t\towl knew it (probably why the owls were in Nome in force). The change \t\t\tin the owl’s attitude came from the fact that it was on the hunt. This \t\t\tlittle piece of basic biology is what permitted us to get so close \t\t\tto this small owl, the Northern Hawk Owl, which is the size of a phone \t\t\treceiver.<\/p>\n

In a very short time the owl really started to get into the swing \t\t\tof things, flying very short hops from perch to perch in the attempt \t\t\tto find the best vantage point to grab a vole. Each time the owl moved, \t\t\twe moved with it and the images we began capturing were beyond our \t\t\twildest imaginations. Finally, the owl made a very short flight, ending \t\t\twith a complete 180-degree turn in the air to come down on a vole. \t\t\tWith the vole in its talons, the owl flew across the road, perching \t\t\ton a long driftwood log.<\/p>\n

We started to walk toward the owl, stopping at the vehicle long enough \t\t\tto download all of our shot film and reload with fresh. We had probably \t\t\tgone through 30 rolls in those 30 minutes. We approached the owl not \t\t\tknowing how it would react to our approaching it when it had food in \t\t\thand. Slowly we came up on it, the owl not making any sign it had any \t\t\tintentions of leaving. We stopped about 45 feet away and set up to \t\t\tshoot. It was perched beautifully on the lichen covered root end of \t\t\tthe driftwood log. There it just sat, not doing a thing.<\/p>\n

So we just sat, watching the owl do nothing. You’d think that it \t\t\twould start eating but rather it just sat. Watching it through the \t\t\tlens, I started to see small body movements in the chest and throat. \t\t\tAfter watching it for a while, I realized what was going on. Since \t\t\twe rehab small owls, I had watched them many times prior to the process \t\t\tof casting a pellet. This is what the hawk owl was doing, getting ready \t\t\tto cast a pellet and until it had done so, it wasn’t going to eat the \t\t\tvole it had just caught.<\/p>\n

Well, even with this advance knowledge of the event forth coming, \t\t\twhen it actually did happen it was so fast and so lacking of any drama, \t\t\twe didn’t capture it on film. But we did get all the blood and guts \t\t\tglory of that cute little brown vole being shredded! You should have \t\t\theard the motordrives rip as we shot the action of the brains being \t\t\tpicked out and eaten, head severed and eaten and then all the entrails \t\t\tbeing pulled out of the body cavity (gee, sure hope you’re not eating \t\t\twhile you’re reading this). This was killer stuff and considering it \t\t\twas the first time I had gotten to focus on a Northern Hawk Owl, I \t\t\twas in pig heaven!<\/p>\n

At this point in the dismembering process the owl stopped, hopped \t\t\tdown behind its root perch and cached the remains of the vole. We would \t\t\tdiscover by following the owl for the rest of the morning that it had \t\t\ta half dozen cached vole remains in various perches in the area. No \t\t\tsooner than the vole was safely cached the owl flew off to perch near \t\t\twhere it had caught the vole.<\/p>\n

We went over to see what the owl was doing as it had on “it’s time \t\t\tto sleep” look. (Just as well because between the light getting a little \t\t\thard and totally running out of film until we went back to the hotel, \t\t\twe were done shooting.) Through our viewfinders we could see the eyes \t\t\tof the owl close slowly until it nodded off. We were perhaps thirty \t\t\tfeet away at the time, the owl not giving a hoot we were present. (You \t\t\tknow I’ve been dying to use that word in this piece.) With that, we \t\t\tjoyously packed up our gear and headed down the road.<\/p>\n

I repeated the above scenario with most likely the exact same owl \t\t\tfor the next four mornings! You just can’t imagine how many images \t\t\tof Northern Hawk Owl I have in my files. It got so silly, just how \t\t\tclose we could get to the owl and move about, that I could take all \t\t\tsorts of before and after images for this or that educational purpose. \t\t\tI could do depth-of-field and exposure studies as well as tests with \t\t\tdifferent lens\/teleconverter combos and distances. In all honesty, \t\t\tthere were times when I wondered if the darn thing was alive!<\/p>\n

The rest of the time I spent in Nome, I kept looking for other birds \t\t\tto photograph and to be honest with you, it was slim pickings, I was \t\t\tsimply too early or the birds were late for the nesting season. It \t\t\twasn’t until the last days of the trip that shorebirds started to show \t\t\tup. There were plenty of other things to photograph like Moose, grizzly \t\t\tand Musk Ox, but I was skunked for my main objective, shorebirds. But \t\t\tthat’s OK; it gives me a great excuse to go to Nome again, as if I \t\t\treally need one!<\/p>\n

Have I photographed a Northern Hawk Owl since? Nope! Have I had the \t\t\topportunity to? More than I want to think about but each time for one \t\t\treason or another, I’ve never captured another frame of the Northern \t\t\tHawk Owl since Nome. Since I have about 4000+ frames between digital \t\t\tand conventional of Northern Hawk Owl, it’s not like I have any shortage \t\t\tof Northern Hawk Owl images. But you know, that cute little devil is \t\t\tin my blood now. Every time I see one, I can guarantee you that I will \t\t\tgrab a camera and attempt to capture the image. No matter how successful \t\t\tI am though, it won’t ever be the same as the invasion of 2000!<\/p>\n

(Note: It was from my experience, photographing the Northern Hawk \t\t\tOwl in Nome, June 2000 with both the F5 and D1 that convinced me to \t\t\tshoot with just the D1. With all those images to compare side by side \t\t\tand to see how the cameras work in the same conditions and situations, \t\t\tit was obvious to me that the D1 worked so much better for my style \t\t\tof shooting, solving problems so I could be a better communicator.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reprinted from the BT Journal, Vol. 6, Issue 2, May, 2001 “It’s an INVASION!!!” he exclaimed. I’d just gotten off the plane, Pro Trekker on my back, Eagle Creek Monster […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-7235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whats-new"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Podcast.jpg?fit=1500%2C1500&quality=100&ssl=1","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"amazon":{"key":"amazon","url":"https:\/\/www.audible.com\/pd\/Podcast\/B08JJQC1GR?ref=a_pd_item-n_c0_bc&pf_rd_p=1da7ab30-c785-4a0e-a160-4a7e7077b353&pf_rd_r=EEDMYHQM3DZ05FPRTHMJ","label":"Amazon","class":"amazon","icon":"amazon.png"},"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2fRA9VaVfSdQMKf1ipxr0tipxr0t","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"itunes":{"key":"itunes","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/moose-podcast\/id1107405746","label":"iTunes","class":"itunes","icon":"itunes.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/moose-podcast","embedCode":"

Northern Hawk Owls<\/a><\/blockquote>