Little owl

Little owl (Athene noctua)

The Little owl is my favorite bird species. This particular specimen was standing still on the lichen covered stone while I was slowly making my way up a hill in search of any wildlife. I had the Nikon D70 in my hands with a Tokina 300mm f/2.8 lens attached.

When I noticed him, I was already pretty close. Thankfully, the Tokina has a minimum focusing distance of 2.4m so I had no concerns about being too close. I immediately looked 15-30 degrees away from his stare and with slow movements kneeled and then crouched on the ground while all the time trying to not look at him directly. I then noticed that he too decided to crouch on the rock instead of flying away, this was a good sign.

I then used my elbows as tripod feet while my hands held the lens barrel. I placed the eyepiece to my eye while focusing the lens manually to its minimum focusing distance. I looked through the viewfinder and just as I was ready to compose the owl stood up and I imediately thought he would fly off, but lucky for me he apparently heard some noise. As soon as his curiosity went away, he turned back to me and crouched for a second time onto the lichen covered rock. I framed and took my first shot but then he flew off. This is my only take on that encounter back in July 2004.

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