owl – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

August 11, 2019

2019-08-11: Birds in the dark

Last week, I featured hornbills for my topic of the month, and this week, it is birds in the dark. I had started typing out birds at night, but one of the images was taken at daybreak, and I thought it best to try and be accurate 🙂

I was very fortunate to have several different owl sightings during my travels, as well as two nightjar sightings. The nightjars were by far the easiest to photograph, as they tend to lay in the road after dark, and if you are lucky you can drive the vehicle fairly close to them and use a spotlight. Owls are a more challenging one, unless you are lucky enough to find them very close to the road, and not spook them when driving up.

This past trip, the first owl sighting I had was on my first evening game drive, and it was rather exciting. I spotted this owl far away on a tree, and as we watched for a few moments, we realized it had a kill it was working on. The terrain made it impossible to drive any closer, so I had to do the best I could with a 400mm lens and a bit of cropping; the quality isn’t fantastic, but the moment was definitely memorable.

DSCF0321 copy-1-Edit — A Verreaux’s eagle-owl on a scrub hare kill. Lion Sands River Lodge, May, 2019

I had one eagle sighting while in the Timbavati, of a pearl-spotted owlet, but unfortunately by the time I got the attention of our ranger to stop, the owl was in flight and all I got was a butt shot as it flew away. And not even a decent butt shot; it’s completely blurry and not worth sharing. There’s always next time though 🙂

The rest of the sightings of birds in the dark all came while staying at Chitwa Chitwa with Harley as our guide. Harley really seemed to enjoy pointing out birds, and identifying the ones that I would randomly point at (generally small raptors which I still have a terrible time identifying).

The southern white-faced owl and the spotted eagle owl were seen within about 10 minutes of each other while heading back to camp for dinner; and then the pair of Verreaux’s eagle owls were spotted the following morning as we set off from camp.

XT3X3459 copy-Edit — A southern white-faced owl. I’ve been lucky enough to see this species a couple of times before. Chitwa Chitwa, South Africa. May, 2019.

Nightjar’s are a common bird to see on game drives at night, but a lot of times they fly away before you have a chance to capture a picture. This past trip, I was fortunate to have two sightings of different species that I could get decent images of.

XT3X3465 copy-Edit — A fiery-necked nightjar. I would have struggled to identify this on my bird app if the song hadn’t been described as “Good lord, deliver us” which was the description our ranger Harley used when talking about them. Chitwa Chitwa, May, 2019.

DSCF4911 copy-Edit — A rufous-cheeked nightjar. Very similar to the fiery-necked nightjar from beak to wing, but this one has white patches on the end two tail feathers (thank you, Roberts Bird app!)

XT3X3475 copy-Edit — A spotted eagle-owl.

XT3X3494 copy-1-Edit — A group of Verreaux’s eagle-owls, spotted early morning on a drive at Chitwa Chitwa. There were actually 3 in this group, but I couldn’t fit them all into one frame as one was in another tree, hidden behind the trunk until it took off.

I hope you enjoy my selections for the week. Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead!

December 2, 2018

Month in Review – November

November’s Topic of the Month – The Night Sky

While I had the opportunity to edit and share images from my night sky workshop in October and some older images as well, I didn’t actually have the chance to get out and shoot the night sky in November, so I guess the topic of the month was a bit of a fail. There is always another night to get out, and now that we are into the very short days of winter, I don’t have to stay up too late to do so. Fingers crossed I can get out and get some local images…. maybe even some aurora shots if the stars line up 🙂

What’s new this month?

I’ve come to the realization this month that in 2018 I’ve done some really deep dives into editing in lots of different ways, but I’ve really not spent much time out shooting, which feels like a real missed opportunity, and something that I need to amend moving into 2019. When I do get out with my camera I quickly get into the zone and find it such an enjoyable activity, that I really need to prioritize it more.

5 favourites – November

What’s coming up next?

I’ve decided not to have a specific topic of the month in December. The month always slips by in such a whirlwind of activity and family time that I would rather just share when I can, and explore what interests me at a given moment, than trying to fit into a specific topic. I’m also going to spend some time thinking about topics and projects for 2019, which is coming up so soon.

November 22, 2018November 21, 2018

2018-11-22: Barred Owl

I was busy working last week and something caught my attention outside, out the corner of my eye. I spotted this gorgeous barred owl in a tree in my backyard, and rushed to grab my camera to take a quick photo through the window.

I decided to take a chance and dash outside and hope to get a better shot. The owl gave me a quick glance, let me snap 3 photos, and then was off, deep into the forest.

I love when beautiful creatures like this decide to make a stop in my yard 🙂

DSCF1954-Edit

June 17, 2018

2018-06-17: Monthly Photo Projects – Birds

I had planned on creating a post about hummingbirds this week, but it’s just not going to happen. I have been out taking photos of them as much as possible, but I haven’t had a chance to edit them yet. As it’s Father’s Day today, I want to spend time with Pops rather than at my computer editing images.

Below is a selection of bird images from my travels that I haven’t had a chance to share yet.

Hummingbirds next week – I promise.

20170502-DSC_1707 — A huge gathering of marabou storks and white backed vultures on the banks of the Boteti River in Botswana. May, 2017.

20170510-DSC_3934 — Groups of darters and cormorants in the early morning fog at one of the dams on Phinda Game Reserve. A few hippos in there for good measure 🙂

20170516-DSC_6568 — A pair of tawny eagles spotted in the Okavango Delta. May 2017.

DSC_6849-Edit — My best guess at identification is a banded snake eagle. This bird was up and away very quickly; spotted on a game drive through Amboseli National Park. September, 2016.

DSC_9620-Edit — A Coqui Francolin spotted in the Masai Mara. September, 2016.