# Advan's Raptor Photography



## advan (Nov 3, 2016)

I've been trying to branch out of macro photography and try some wildlife stuff focusing on Raptors(birds of prey). Of course regular birds get mixed in while I'm out hiking and looking for raptors. Just wanted to start a thread showing what I've been upped to this past year. 


I'll start with some recent ones, I have a lot of photos that still need to be uploaded to FlickR. Here are the ones that already are.

Great horned Owl (_Bubo virginianus_)


















After shooting the above owl, I made it back on the trail. I was reviewing photos and this juvie Red-Tailed Hawk (_Buteo jamaicensis_) came down for a snack about 50ft from me.



















After it missed it's mark, it flew away towards the parking lot.






Here's a few days later at the same park. We hiked for a bit, not finding anything until we followed bird alerts. Came through the woods and the bird alerts stopped. Not long after we came upon two GHO's in the same tree. They were very cooperative, letting us sit rather close with a dog and some beers. Such amazing birds.





































Red Shouldered Hawk (_Buteo lineatus)_ from Lake Skinner, California






Same hawk about to be harassed by an Osprey with a fish(look close!).






Northern Harrier (_Circus cyaneus_) from San Eligo Lagoon, California












Bald Eagle (_Haliaeetus leucocephalus_) from Lake Vermilion, Minnesota












That's it for now! Thanks for looking!  -Chad

Reactions: Like 10 | Love 9


----------



## advan (Dec 4, 2016)

Went looking for a snowy owl that has been hanging around the Minneapolis airport lately. Unfortunately we came up empty handed in that department. We did find a Red Tailed Hawk with lunch as a consolation prize though.

Reactions: Like 9 | Love 2


----------



## papilio (Dec 4, 2016)

What a portfolio ... there are no words.

Reactions: Agree 2 | Beer 1


----------



## advan (Feb 7, 2017)

A few weekends ago, I went up to the Sax Zim Bog to try and find the Great Grey Owls that are up there. I struck out again with the owls but had some eagles hanging out just out the back door of a friend's cabin I was staying at.

Reactions: Like 5 | Love 3


----------



## advan (Feb 14, 2017)

A pair of Great Horned Owls from this weekend. Hopefully they have a successful year and I'll be able to get some owlets shots in the next few months.  

Female












Male napping in near by tree.


















Crows flying over got his attention.

Reactions: Like 6 | Love 4 | Award 1


----------



## The Snark (Feb 19, 2017)

Still trying to figure out how @advan manages to be in the right place at the right time with the right camera and lens. I'm quite willing to attribute this to reading tea leaves and properly interpreting astrological events.

Reactions: Funny 3


----------



## sdsnybny (Feb 19, 2017)

The Snark said:


> Still trying to figure out how @advan manages to be in the right place at the right time with the right camera and lens. I'm quite willing to attribute this to reading tea leaves and properly interpreting astrological events.


I believe he uses Alien "Predator" camouflage

Reactions: Agree 1


----------



## Ratmosphere (Feb 20, 2017)

So beautiful!

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


----------



## Belegnole (Feb 20, 2017)

The Snark said:


> Still trying to figure out how @advan manages to be in the right place at the right time with the right camera and lens. I'm quite willing to attribute this to reading tea leaves and properly interpreting astrological events.


He knows his subject matter and stalks it. Finding birds of prey isn't all that hard if you know where to look. Plus within bird watching communities people let each other know where to find certain birds. 

I live in an area populated by Bald Eagles. With the right gear, planning, and some luck I could get any number of different shots of them.

This is not to detract from advan's obvious skills. But maybe to point out his hunting prowess.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Informative 1


----------



## advan (Feb 20, 2017)

The Snark said:


> Still trying to figure out how @advan manages to be in the right place at the right time with the right camera and lens. I'm quite willing to attribute this to reading tea leaves and properly interpreting astrological events.


During these hikes, I always have my camera and telephoto. I've driven and hiked countless miles coming back without any thing. 



sdsnybny said:


> I believe he uses Alien "Predator" camouflage


Ha! I still haven't and won't go full birder with camo clothes and camo lens sheath. 



Belegnole said:


> He knows his subject matter and stalks it. Finding birds of prey isn't all that hard if you know where to look. Plus within bird watching communities people let each other know where to find certain birds.
> 
> I live in an area populated by Bald Eagles. With the right gear, planning, and some luck I could get any number of different shots of them.
> 
> This is not to detract from advan's obvious skills. But maybe to point out his hunting prowess.


Yep, I have had some hints for general areas but owls are still a pain to find. Crows are the best at tipping you off to an owl's location. Bald Eagles are plentiful here in Minnesota. I believe we are second or third for breeding populations, behind Alaska and maybe Florida. There is even a nest in downtown Minneapolis. Soon I hope to get a shot of it with the buildings in the background.  

Went to Fort Snelling State Park to find some Barred Owls that are there this weekend. No luck with the barreds but did find two different GHO's each day. 

First day, lighting was tough so I only was happy with this one.






Baldy near it's nest.






Second GHO
















































Hopefully I'll find some different species soon!

Reactions: Like 4 | Informative 1 | Love 4


----------



## Belegnole (Feb 20, 2017)

Yup, owls are definitely more difficult to pin down. My father and I spent weeks trying to track a snowy down a few years back. We kept seeing it around a new development. But we finally figured out that it was nesting a mile away.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## The Snark (Feb 20, 2017)

This explains a few things to me. I'm not bird oriented. My photo safaris when it comes to birds are haphazard at best and I don't have a telephoto lens. I see raptors and owls on the wing quite often but have no clue where they would park and pose for pictures.


----------



## RTTB (Feb 21, 2017)

Amazing pictures!


----------



## The Snark (Feb 21, 2017)

advan said:


> Went looking for a snowy owl that has been hanging around the Minneapolis airport lately. Unfortunately we came up empty handed in that department. We did find a Red Tailed Hawk with lunch as a consolation prize though.


Recollection. I was about 7. Our family kept and bred parakeets. Someone delivered into our keeping an injured fledgling Red Tailed Hawk. We nursed it back to health. Vague memories of it riding around on my arm. There is even a picture somewhere of yours truly cringing as it tried to perch on my head. We did not restrain or cage it. Just hid our parakeets inside the house.
One morning it decided to depart.  It first flew over to my mother as she was leaving for work, regarding her from a fence railing a few feet away. It then flew over to the playground where my brother and I were and perched on a mound of dirt we were digging in for a few moments. Last it found our dad out mowing a lawn a couple of hundred feet south and circled him twice. Goodbyes taken care of, it flew off, never to be seen again.

Reactions: Like 1 | Love 1


----------



## advan (Mar 9, 2017)

Belegnole said:


> Yup, owls are definitely more difficult to pin down. My father and I spent weeks trying to track a snowy down a few years back. We kept seeing it around a new development. But we finally figured out that it was nesting a mile away.


Snowy's shouldn't be nesting in the States, they're just winter visitors.  



The Snark said:


> This explains a few things to me. I'm not bird oriented. My photo safaris when it comes to birds are haphazard at best and I don't have a telephoto lens. I see raptors and owls on the wing quite often but have no clue where they would park and pose for pictures.


Get out and look! I would love to see some of the raptors from your area! 



RTTB said:


> Amazing pictures!


Thank you! 


Well I'm going to bore you with more GHO photos. I made it out to two different spots with known resident Barred Owls and couldn't find them. One of these days......

Reactions: Like 4 | Love 1


----------



## The Snark (Mar 9, 2017)

advan said:


> Get out and look! I would love to see some of the raptors from your area!


Frustration!! I see owls just about every night zooming along. See some sort of hawk and eagle circling now and then. (Waving an arm vaguely to the north, roughly 3000 square miles of rain forest area)... look where? And we are talking rugged rocky terrain in 100F heat without roads.


----------



## advan (Mar 9, 2017)

The Snark said:


> Frustration!! I see owls just about every night zooming along. See some sort of hawk and eagle circling now and then. (Waving an arm vaguely to the north, roughly 3000 square miles of rain forest area)... look where? And we are talking rugged rocky terrain in 100F heat without roads.


Start here?  https://www.hawkmountain.org/science/khao-dinsor-thailand/page.aspx?id=3553

Reactions: Informative 1


----------



## Belegnole (Mar 9, 2017)

advan said:


> Snowy's shouldn't be nesting in the States, they're just winter visitors.


It was years ago so I probably misspoke and should have said roost. However it wasn't winter which was part of why we kept looking for it. I can still remember the first time I saw it sitting on the roof of a new blue sided ranch style house.

I haven't read the whole thread but see you mentioned Hawk Mountain. Definitely a great place to check out during the migration. I've only been there once back when I was 16.


----------



## Magenta (Mar 9, 2017)

Wow, these are lovely  <3


----------



## The Snark (Mar 10, 2017)

Saw two raptors, hawk or eagle, flying overhead near our house yesterday. One had a large section of missing feathers on it's right wing. Wonder how that happened. Didn't seem to affect it's flying ability. Then in the evening a large owl, a big gray streak, zoomed up the road in front of our house. This is interesting in that seeing birds of prey around here is usually pretty rare.
Since the farmers have quit slaughtering the storks and herons around here we are seeing more raptors. They were killing them mainly because it was thought they ate the paddy crabs which are a delicacy. (Don't you love the thought of eating raw bottom feeders?). Word finally got out to the farmers the storks are eating snails and helping prevent diseases.


----------



## papilio (Mar 23, 2017)

Aside from the awesome subjects, it's pretty amazing how you're getting the kind of contrast and color in these images under what I'd guess are often pretty flat lighting conditions.  Gorgeous!  

If you're still getting shots like this even close to OOC I quit.

Reactions: Agree 1


----------



## The Snark (Mar 23, 2017)

This is some kind of demented masochism for me. Go on my bike ride to relax. Camera dangling around my neck starts to chaff. Doing so much rubber necking I almost drive off the road several times. It's somewhere in Murphy's laws. If I'm packing a camera all wildlife move to a different country.
3 days ago. A water buffalo in a scenic field with a dark green background. Three strokes are perched on it's back having a coffee klatch. A tiny baby buffalo is nursing on it's mom. Slowly slowly, stop bike. Raise camera, turn on, swivel, raise camera. And that's their cue. In the space of time to I get my eye in the view finder all three birds take flight and the baby strolls away. 
By the time I get home from my relaxing bike ride - photo safaris I'm in a state of acute hypertension. 

Maybe start a GoFundMe to finance Advan's kidnapping and shipping over here to show me how it's done. I'll take shots of him as he does it. Safe bet he won't fly off.

Reactions: Funny 4 | Beer 1


----------



## advan (Mar 29, 2017)

papilio said:


> Aside from the awesome subjects, it's pretty amazing how you're getting the kind of contrast and color in these images under what I'd guess are often pretty flat lighting conditions.  Gorgeous!
> 
> If you're still getting shots like this even close to OOC I quit.


Haha. Actually I prefer overcast with these. The trick is trying to get them without a overexposed sky. Pick one or two and I'll email you the untouched jpegs if you're that curious.  



The Snark said:


> This is some kind of demented masochism for me. Go on my bike ride to relax. Camera dangling around my neck starts to chaff. Doing so much rubber necking I almost drive off the road several times. It's somewhere in Murphy's laws. If I'm packing a camera all wildlife move to a different country.
> 3 days ago. A water buffalo in a scenic field with a dark green background. Three strokes are perched on it's back having a coffee klatch. A tiny baby buffalo is nursing on it's mom. Slowly slowly, stop bike. Raise camera, turn on, swivel, raise camera. And that's their cue. In the space of time to I get my eye in the view finder all three birds take flight and the baby strolls away.
> By the time I get home from my relaxing bike ride - photo safaris I'm in a state of acute hypertension.
> 
> Maybe start a GoFundMe to finance Advan's kidnapping and shipping over here to show me how it's done. I'll take shots of him as he does it. Safe bet he won't fly off.


If I had a nickel for every time I had the shutter half way pressed and the subject flew off, I wouldn't need a GoFundMe. I wouldn't be opposed though, would have to split the raptoring with some spider hunts though. 

Monday's after work hike on Pike Island had good results. 

GHO in the sun. 


















We found a pair of Barred Owls at the end of the hike. After a bit, we watched them tag team hunt a squirrel. We watched for about ten minutes but left before they caught it.
































......and a bonus male GHO from last week.

Reactions: Like 5 | Love 4


----------



## papilio (Mar 29, 2017)

(More superlatives ... )

Reactions: Funny 1


----------



## boina (Mar 31, 2017)

I just found this thread (procrastinating at work...) and I'm blown away. OMG, these pictures are absolutely gorgous!!!

Reactions: Beer 1


----------



## ChickenTaco (Mar 31, 2017)

At our old house just out of town we had tons of GH owls! But all our trees were so tall that pics were a pain! The coopers hawk, martins and swallows (we had 4 types) were great though! Flew circles around our house ;D


----------



## Nephila Edulis (Aug 17, 2017)

Absolutely stunning! I'd try and take pics of eagles but I have no idea where they'd stop and sit still for a photo. There is a nest in keilor that I know of though. Other than that there's really just tawny frogmouths around. Sometimes if I'm lucky I'll spot a falcon in the city flying low, but that's about it


----------



## advan (Dec 10, 2017)

Been awhile. Now that it is winter I switch my focus from jumping spiders to raptors.

After a few hours of driving back roads looking for snowy owls and coming up short last weekend, we made the last minute decision to make a two hour detour north to St. Louis County. We only had about 45 minutes of light when we arrived but it was worth it. We also ran into a spider friend Brad. It's always nice to run into friends, hours away from home.

Great Grey Owl
























A few of the second one we found hunting at dusk.

Reactions: Like 4 | Love 5 | Award 1


----------



## cold blood (Dec 13, 2017)

advan said:


> Been awhile. Now that it is winter I switch my focus from jumping spiders to raptors.
> 
> After a few hours of driving back roads looking for snowy owls and coming up short last weekend, we made the last minute decision to make a two hour detour north to St. Louis County. We only had about 45 minutes of light when we arrived but it was worth it. We also ran into a spider friend Brad. It's always nice to run into friends, hours away from home.
> 
> ...


Those pics are magnificent.   I would love to have a blow up of that 4th pic.  Ridiculous pics...I see owls fairly often here, but I almost never get a good look at them for long enough to even get a quick pic on my phone.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## viper69 (Dec 31, 2017)

advan said:


> I've been trying to branch out of macro photography


Where's the dedication... 



advan said:


> I've driven and hiked countless miles coming back without any thing


I know this feeling all too well for some landscape photography. I was recently on the coast and had left my camera home by ACCIDENT, 300 miles away, saw one of the best sunsets in a while, nothing but a camera "phone" with me.



These are great pics Advan. I'm glad you are finding joy in a new area. I've only seen owls and hawks flying haha. Never seen them sitting still unfortunately, nor have I seen an eagle in the wild ever. Truly gorgeous images.


----------



## crlovel (Jan 9, 2018)

Advan, what setup are you using? And are you shooting RAW files and touching up/sharpening with software?

Absolutely beautiful pictures.


----------



## advan (Jan 17, 2018)

cold blood said:


> Those pics are magnificent.   I would love to have a blow up of that 4th pic.  Ridiculous pics...I see owls fairly often here, but I almost never get a good look at them for long enough to even get a quick pic on my phone.


Thanks man! it takes a lot of time to find them during the day. That's half the fun. Last year the gf and I come up with a game with points. 



viper69 said:


> Where's the dedication...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I am dedicated to Salti's during the summer, even got a bad case of poison ivy last summer catching one.  I still need to create a thread of all the Salti shots I got last year. That's crazy you've never seen a baldy, they are dime a dozen up here. 



crlovel said:


> Advan, what setup are you using? And are you shooting RAW files and touching up/sharpening with software?
> 
> Absolutely beautiful pictures.


I'm using a Nikon D7100 with the Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 now. Before I was shooting the Nikon 300mm f4 with a 1.4 teleconverter before I sold that to Jacobi to fund the 200-500mm. I shoot in raw, import them into Nikon ViewNX and convert them to JPEG. I use Lightroom to reduce noise, do some touch ups and cropping. Owls are always hard do to lighting restrictions, the GGOs love to hunt of grey overcast days. You always have to crank up ISO to get the SS up to get usable shots. If you are curious about EXIF data, I have it enabled on my Flickr so you can see the settings for each shot.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/76845739@N03/

Since the last post we've made it up to the Bog twice and did a local search for some owls.


12.16.2017 Sax Zim Bog trip. 

Northern Hawk Owl


















Great Grey Owl

























1.7.2018 Airport and Pike Island hike.

We stopped by the Minneapolis airport to hopefully see one of the Snowy Owls that have been hanging around. We did find one that was far away. Hopefully I'll get some better opportunities soon!

Snowy Owl






After the airport we went to Fort Snelling State Park to hike Pike's Island to get out because it was in the 20's and nice compared to the sub-zero temps we had been dealing with lately. April found a GHO hiding at the end of the island. 

Great Horned Owl












1.14.2018 Sax Zim Bog trip.

We went up to the bog last Sunday and brought a friend to have her see her first NHO and GGO's. We found 3 GGO's(one on the highway before we got to the bog) and one NHO. 

Northern Hawk Owl






Great Grey Owl




































That's it for now. Debating on heading up north this weekend to try and find the elusive Boreal Owls people have been finding. Thanks for looking! -Chad

Reactions: Like 1 | Love 2 | Award 2


----------



## viper69 (Jan 18, 2018)

advan said:


> I still need to create a thread of all the Salti shots I got last year


Can't wait to see those! My favorite true spider group out there. If they were the size of a large tarantula, I'd get one provided I could give them a good amount of space for them to thrive. I know papilio had the large species, and those are huge for spiders.


----------



## Storm76 (Jul 27, 2018)

Ah, Chad. I see you're still posting those mind-boggling, blowing away pictures of yours! Wonderful to look it. Thank you for posting them! Also, hi Michael!


----------



## papilio (Jul 27, 2018)

Jan!      What a very pleasant surprise, and thanks for the shout out ... I do hope you're doing well!

Chad, looking back just now over these images and from the perspective of quite some time having passed, I'm thinking that these may be even more remarkable than your spider photos.

Reactions: Funny 1


----------



## Storm76 (Jul 27, 2018)

Still kicking. Some changes in my private life, but still around of course. Not as active, but I'll try. Hope you guys are all well, too.


----------



## Rhino1 (Apr 3, 2019)

Wow, absolutely unreal photography work @advan, makes my best pics look like printed toilet paper

Reactions: Winner 1


----------



## advan (May 17, 2020)

Harris Hawk - Cochise County, Arizona

Reactions: Like 4 | Award 1


----------



## papilio (May 17, 2020)

Not bad!!!  Pretty cool actually.


----------



## NathanB (May 23, 2020)

Great Photos, search for Morten Hilmer on YouTube, he has very good videos. Have you ever tried sitting in a hide with bait in front of the hide (bait can be like a dead rabbit or something) you can get stunning photos that way!


----------



## advan (May 26, 2020)

papilio said:


> Not bad!!!  Pretty cool actually.


Thanks Michael! 


NathanB said:


> Great Photos, search for Morten Hilmer on YouTube, he has very good videos. Have you ever tried sitting in a hide with bait in front of the hide (bait can be like a dead rabbit or something) you can get stunning photos that way!


Thanks! I'll have to check him out. 

Baiting is a very hot topic in the birding/raptor world and I am personally against it. I'd much rather see the birds hunt naturally.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


----------



## advan (Mar 24, 2021)

Been slacking on actually going out looking for owls. April and I gave it a shot Monday at a local spot. She spotted the male within 5 mins of arrival. 

Male GHO

Reactions: Like 4 | Thanks 1


----------



## DomGom TheFather (Mar 24, 2021)

Awesome pics! 
Barred owls are my favorite.

Reactions: Like 1


----------

