Four Captive Owls

I had a chance to photograph some captive injured owls up close.  It was sort of difficult taking photos in midday light without over exposing the white feathers, but I tried my best.  They had four owls to share with the group of photographers.

The Bard Owl was the largest bird I photographed and very sleepy.  This is the best shot I could get.  In most of my photos, he/she had his eyes half closed.  I did get a chance to see it's additional protective eye lids.

 



I really liked the Barn Owl (without the barn!) What a face!  Barn owls are one of the most common type of owls and are found all over the world. 

 

 

 

 

 
This little owl is an Eastern Screech owl.  They are very small and fairly common in the eastern United States.  I've photographed several of them before including one in my September 6, 2013 and April 23, 2012 blogs if you want to see more.

 



The long eared owl has asymmetrical ear tufts.  The ears don't line up perfectly, which helps them locate their prey.  The left ear is higher than the right.

A good online source of information about owls is All About Birds.

Hollywood craft show

I am one of the vendors at the craft show at the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Dept this Sunday November 17th from 10am-3pm. The firehouse is on route 235 in Hollywood, MD. Admission is free and lunch is available. Come see my new photo coasters or buy some Holiday gifts. I also have St. Mary's County photo mugs, unique cards, prints and more.
For more information, go to http://www.hvfd7.com/index.cfm?fs=events.eventView&Event_ID=386

My friend, Theresa Ford will be there too with her fractals, her books and more.

Shenandoah in autumn

We managed to find a hotel room at the last minute in Luray, VA for a weekend, before all the colored leaves disappeared. The peak colors are about 2 weeks earlier than in Southern MD. I searched google maps for a spot just off a back road along the Shenadoah River with mountains in view. We drove there for the sunrise and found swirling mist on the water. Lovely.

The next morning we drove to the lower entrance of Whiteoak Canyon trail. Along the way we passed an old red barn in nice warm light.

We met some photography friends and hiked to the lower falls. After hiking 1.5 miles, we learned that you need to hop over rocks to get to the falls. I managed to get over the rocks with assistance. It was worth it.

Lighthouse Water Tour

Lighthouse Water Tour, a set on Flickr.

We took a tour of several lighthouses on the Chesapeake Bay on Phil Langley's Lisa S in late September. There were several camera clubs invited. The day was quite windy, so I didn't get an award winning photo of Point No Point with a lovely reflection, but we had lots of fun and had lunch together afterwards.