Short Eared Owls
During the winter months, short eared owls can be seen hunting during the day on coastal marshes and wetlands around the United Kingdom. One of the best locations to see and to photograph these owls is on the saltmarshes of the Dee Estuary on the North Wales/North-West England border. Having seen reports of short eared owls hunting over the saltmarshes of the Dee Estuary close to Denhall Quarry, this was also a good opportunity to test the autofocus on my new Nikon Z9 mirrorless camera.
When photographing short eared owls, their wings are incredibly beautiful when backlit by the warm light of the low winter’s sun in the late afternoon and at dusk. Where possible, I always try and find a location where I can photograph these owls against the sun. Waiting for a day where the weather forecast showed a clear sky in the late afternoon and at sunset, I made the short journey from my home to Denhall Quarry on the Dee Estuary. Setting up next to where I parked my car by the roadside, I was positioned looking out into the saltmarsh where the short eared owls were flying backlit by the late afternoon sun. I was then treated to some two hours of these beautiful owls flying over the saltmarsh in front of me.
If you click on any of the images in this blog it will open in a separate individual and larger lightbox.
All of the above images were made using my Nikon Z9 with my Nikon AF-S 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens, AFS Teleconverter TC-1.4 III and FTZ Mark II adapter. Photographing a backlit bird in flight is great real world test of any camera’s autofocus. Using the Nikon Z9 with the adapted Nikon 600mm f mount lens and 1.4 teleconverter, the Z9’s animal eye autofocus locked onto the short eared owls eyes. The Z9’s autofocus performed as well as, if not better than, the Nikon D5 and Nikon D850 that I had been using previously.