For today, the forecast was a clear day with possibly some fog. So I headed for the local forest again to photograph a spectacular sunrise. Too bad, the weather was drab and gloomy, so no sun and no fog and nothing that even vaguely resembled a spectacular sunrise.
Next stop was a heathland moor where I knew I could find a male hen harrier and several shrikes. I spent about three hours, during which I did see my intended subjects, but nowhere within camera reach. It seemed to become one of those days not to remember.
On the drive home, I passed a little green shed. I had been told a little owl often uses it to enjoy the warm rays of sun. However, over the course of 18 months I had never seen even the tiniest bit of little owl anywhere near the shed. So I drove by and out of habit just shortly glimpsed over my shoulder towards the shed. And there it was!
The little owl was not bothered by my presence at all, just curious and so we spent about an hour together and played a little game of hide and seek. Unbelievable, as you may know that I spent about the full spring period to photograph a little owl family with hardly any success because they simply were too scared of my presence. Nature moves in mysterious ways… I will certainly remember that next time (and every time) I go out to photograph.
Little owl in farmers shed; Canon 1D mark III w. 500/4 and EF 2x; 1/125s at F11 and ISO 400; Beanbag from car window.
