Norfolk and the Barn Owl re-visited
Gorgeous evening light. Shot at 800mm @ f/6.3, 1/2500s, ISO 1800
After my trip to Norfolk three years ago, I always knew I had to go back … and, that is what I did late last month. The first trip was good, but this one was even better!
Notice the outlines of wind turbines off the north Norfolk coast in the background. Shot at 800mm @ f/6.3, 1/1600s, ISO 280
Norfolk is blessed with an abundance of birdlife and is arguably one of the better places in England to photography the Barn Owl. The trick though is to enlist local knowledge, as the Barn Owl is a shy bird. I captured some good shots last time, but I enjoyed photographing this beautiful bird so much that I wanted to see if I could improve my collection of images - particularly flight shots - of this majestic owl.
Scanning the field for voles. Shot at 800mm @ f/6.3, 1/1600s, ISO 500
I contacted David Tipling, a renowned wildlife photographer and bird expert based in northern Norfolk. There is no-one better to enlist to seek out the key areas to observe and photograph birds in Norfolk. He knows this part of the world like the back of his hand … and he is great company too.
Taking a rest from hunting in front of our hide. Shot at 800mm @ f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 320
For most of my short week’s visit the weather was kind, bar the odd downpour. As Barn Owls are mostly nocturnal – although in Norfolk they tend to start hunting earlier in the evenings than many other places – the best time to photograph them is early morning or in the evening when the light is often very good. Good light makes a strong wildlife image and the weather gods were mostly on our side with some lovely evening light in particular.
Shot at 800mm @ f/6.3, 1/2000s, ISO 2000
We focussed initially on the owl, and we had some great encounters with Barn Owls both from a hide and whilst on foot. In one place a Barn Owl was so focussed on hunting along a road verge in the sunset it almost flew into us, veering off at the last minute. It got so close that it was way too big to fit in the frame with my telephoto lens attached. Quite a moment!
So focused on hunting in the sunset it didn’t notice us until it was on top of us! Shot at 800mm @ f/6.3, 1/1600s, ISO 180
After a good success rate with the Barn Owl, we mixed it up a bit, and went hunting for other birds too, including the Shore Lark and the Bearded Tit – both of which are a bit special and deserve to be covered in separate blog posts later (Spoiler alert: I had decent success photographing both of these tricky customers!).
Unusual to see Barn Owls hunting in early morning rain - must have been hungry! Shot at 800mm @ f/6.3, 1/1000s, ISO 2800
We were out before dawn and kept going till sunset. The success rate was impressive, as we encountered and photographed an array of birds. In addition to those mentioned above, we came across Short-eared Owl, Marsh Harrier, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Red-breasted Merganser, Little Grebe, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Stonechat and several waders, geese and ducks.
There are much more than Barn Owls in Norfolk. Red-breasted Merganser. Shot at 800mm @ f/6.3, 1/2500s, ISO 400
Norfolk is just magical for bird photography. I very much doubt this will be my last trip. Many thanks to David. So long and till next time Norfolk!
Short-eared Owl in the winter evening light. Shot at 800mm @ f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 450
More owl photography can be found in the Birds of Prey Gallery.
Catching the last sunrays of the day. Shot at 800mm @ f/6.3, 1/1600s, ISO 220
Spotted something, talons ready …
… and diving for prey … unfortunately with no luck this time.