The Secret Life of Burrowing Owls

Burrowing owls are one of the most interesting species of birds I have photographed. Standing at 8 inches, they nest in the ground instead of trees like most other owls. They are also diurnal which means they forage during the day as well as the night. Their hypnotic and almost cartoon-like gaze only add the allure of these protected birds.

My goal was to create a unique image of these owls in their natural habitat. Many photographers reach for their long lenses and photograph them from a distance but I wanted something a little more intimate. In order to get these series of images, I hid my camera inside a road cone which, oddly enough, the burrowing owls had grown accustomed to. Over a period of six months I returned to the burrows leaving my camera to take pictures for 6 hours at a time in 2 to 10 second intervals. I went through over 10,000 images to make these sequences and ran into many obstacles including bird poop on my lens, rainy weather, and uncooperative owls. With a little dedication, however, what resulted was a rare glimpse into the secret lives of these beautiful and threatened birds.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Burrowing Owls
• Mac Stone
• Time Lapse

[scubadubadog]

Wow. I hope others appreciate how beautiful your work is. You've blown me away.