Pedro´s Rookie Year

[pedro maia]

#150, 12/7, Gull-billed Tern, Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

 

[pedro maia]

A few duplicates from several places:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It took me a lot of tries to find the little owl and only when I arrived to the place where Michael told me there was one little after 6.00am did I find it, the other day in the Lezíria, at 4.00pm and with 35º there was another one, much closer and with better photo possibilities:

 

 

[PeterHG]

I continue to be amazed at the total number you manage to reach in your country. It definitely confirms the impression I got from two previous visits some years ago: an impressive variety in birdlife! I love the duplicates in your last batch ( excellent photography !), especially the Little Owl. 

[michael-ibk]

Great shots of the Owl Pedro, your persistence paid off!

[TonyQ]

Well done with the owl, a lovely shot 

[Kitsafari]

wonderful shots of the owl, especially with the eyes wide open!

[lmSA84]

Great shot of the owl and cisticola

[Dave Williams]

Onward to 200 at home! You never know, it's possible!

[pedro maia]

Last Sunday I went with my daughter on a night "safari" to look for owls, it was quite fun and we did see owls, didn´t count them but I think we saw about 15, but all from the same species.

 

It was quite a challenge to take pictures due to our lack of knowledge, they were in the road side poles and didn´t let us get closer to +-10m, so these were the "best" shots with them on the poles:

 

#151, 14/7, Barn Owl, Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

 

AT one moment, there were 3 of them hunting in the same place, while we tried to take pictures 2 of them landed on the road, not very close but in front of us so we could take advantage of the headlights, this was my best shot with the bridge camera (bad picture, anyway):

 

 

And this was my daughter´s best with the DLSR:

 

 

As i said it was quite a fun evening and we are definitely going to do it again.

 

[pedro maia]

3 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

Onward to 200 at home! You never know, it's possible!

 

It´s difficult but not impossible, I´ll try anyway.

[Galana]

I would be more than happy with any photo of Owls. Lucky you.

[pedro maia]

3 hours ago, Galana said:

I would be more than happy with any photo of Owls. Lucky you.

 

I’m very happy, but that does’t mean that those are good photos .

[Galana]

13 minutes ago, pedro maia said:

but that does’t mean that those are good photos .

Any photo that clearly shows the subject is a good photo in my book.

[PeterHG]

Seeing 15 owls on your 'night safari' is quite impressive. It must have been a special occasion even if photograpy was difficult.

[pedro maia]

On 7/23/2019 at 9:14 AM, PeterHG said:

Seeing 15 owls on your 'night safari' is quite impressive. It must have been a special occasion even if photograpy was difficult.

 

Went back yesterday to show the owls to my 10 years old nephew, this time we conted them and we saw 10, all barn owls.

 

One of them posed nicely for us and with different camera settings (set by my daughter) we took much better photos, didn´t see them yet on the computer but I´ll post a few later on.

[Kitsafari]

15 barn owls! 10 barn owls!

 

I would be delirious with one barn owl.

 

so jealous @pedro maia

[pedro maia]

Pictures from last night, unfortunately nothing to add to the count but I can´t really complain.

 

 

 

 

This one was taken by my daughter and as she was in the back seat with a different angle she picked some distant house lights, but I like the effect:

 

 

 

And while we headed to the way out we had this final bonus:

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2019 by pedro maia

[Galana]

One word! Awesome.

Love the snails on the post.

I actually like the first pose best with the lovely heart shaped face.

[PeterHG]

Amazing  pictures of the Barn Owl!

[Zim Girl]

Fabulous Barn owl pictures.

[pedro maia]

11 hours ago, Galana said:

One word! Awesome.

Love the snails on the post.

I actually like the first pose best with the lovely heart shaped face.

 

They don’t seem to eat the snails, clearly birds with exquisite taste.

[pedro maia]

Thanks @PeterHG and @Zim Girl, I’m pretty happy with these photos.

[Galana]

9 minutes ago, pedro maia said:

They don’t seem to eat the snails, clearly birds with exquisite taste.

Clearly put off by the Garlic!

[TonyQ]

THe count doesn't matter when you get such a superb sighting. Well done to you - and your daughter (a future Big Year participant?)

[pedro maia]

8 hours ago, TonyQ said:

THe count doesn't matter when you get such a superb sighting. Well done to you - and your daughter (a future Big Year participant?)

 

As you say the count doesn’t matter when you have a great sighting, but if the chances of seeing other nocturnal species were higher I would return (during the night, I go there often during the day) since it’s only 40m from home.

 

My daughter likes photography and loves animals but for birds it has to be something special, like owls.