Photo of the Day! Northern Hawk Owl

Nikon D90, Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 + TC 14E II @ 420mm, ISO 500, f/7.1, 1/1250 +1.3 EV

This was from our recent trip to northern Minnesota. We were lucky to have a cooperative Hawk Owl for the better part of the day. This Hawk Owl was actively hunting. It would sit on the tree top for short periods of time before changing locations or dive bombing an unsuspecting vole.

Photo of the Day! Gray Jays Interaction!

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f/4 AFS, manual focus, manual exposure, auto ISO, ISO 900, f/5.6, 1/800

This image is from last weekend in northern Minnesota. While working with some cooperative Gray Jay I really wanted multiple subjects and hopefully some interaction between the two. Since I was using a fixed focal length lens I needed to back up a bit so I could get two birds in the scene. After a little bit of patience I ended up with this photo!

Photo Trip, Northern Hawk Owl!

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f/4 AFS + TC 14E II @ 700mm, ISO 320, f/8, 1/1000 by Chad Griggs

Derek and I spent two days shooting wildlife and a few landscapes in northern Minnesota the past two days. Our focus was on owls. It can be hit or miss with these owls but we were hoping to find Northern Hawk Owls and Great Gray Owls.


On day one we only briefly saw a Northern Hawk Owl and no Great Grays. The Northern Hawk Owl was amazing though. We completely blew an opportunity to get a nice photograph of it though. It sat on the very top of a tree for about 30 minutes. Long enough for Derek and I to loose our concentration on the bird, then all of the sudden it flew right at us and over our head! We both watched in pure amazement and pain that we weren't paying more attention.

The Owl flew about 100 yards past us and caught a mouse or vole in the snow. It was really amazing how it could even see it from that far away!


Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f/4 AFS + TC 14E II @ 700mm, ISO 360, f/8, 1/1000, + 1.7 EV by Chad Griggs

On day two we had a bit more luck with the owl. The two photos above were taken when the owl repeated the behavior. It quickly flew off to an open snow covered field behind us. The owl was a bit back lit so I quickly ramped up my exposure compensation to +1.7 EV. The owl didn't seem to catch anything but then did a low fly from left to right. I was fortunate to get some photos of this small fast flying owl!


Nikon D90, Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 + TC 14E II @ 420mm, ISO 500, f/7.1, 1/1250 +1.3 EV by Derek Griggs

We didn't see any Great Gray Owls and we are definitely excited about getting back up there and spending more time with the Northern Hawk Owl. So the owls haven't seen the last of us. Future trips and photos to come!

Photo of the Day! Pine Grosbeak, Northern MN

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f/4 AFS, fill flash, @ ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/600

This is a male Pine Grosbeak from last weekend in northern Minnesota. It took quite a bit of patience to get this image. There was a small flock of about 5 males and 1 female which came and left several times. While we waited we photographed Black-capped Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, Hair Woodpeckers and even had a Gray Jay visit a few times.  Finally after several hours this male Pine Grosbeak came and perched on this branch! Patience paid off!

Bog Video

I've been busy but I finally got together a video from our trip up north this winter. Derek and I saw and photographed several species of birds we had never seen before. We even stumbled onto the same Great Gray Owl twice! We had a blast and can't wait to get back up there next year.