Vi's Captures

Most of those who knows me knows that how desperately i was looking to capture an owl since i got my camera in September. I’ve been waking up early for 2 months and heading out looking for owls every free day i got. This past holiday week alone i drove close to 800 miles in total after discovering a potential location to spot short eared owls. I woke up around 5:30 in the morning and drove to this not well known location 3 days in a row, i spotted prairie falcons, northern harriers, red tail hawks, greater road runners, loggerhead shrike, crested caracara but not a single owl. So this morning i decided to change the route and drive to a different spot which i was already quite familiar with, same place where i took my first bobcat photos. I had already seen others who had taken photos of this exact light pole with eastern screech owl but i didn’t know where it was. I drove around the whole refuge looking for a light pole that has a hole and i finally found it but there was no owl peaking out of it. I confirmed this is the same exact spot but i was thinking to myself maybe it’s not my day yet. I waited a few more minutes before driving off and first sun beams started reaching the top of the light pole and i saw movement.. i quickly grabbed my camera and aimed at this beautiful sleepy eastern screech owl who call this light pole home. Temperature was around -1 Celsius or 32 Fahrenheit my hands were freezing but i managed to take several photos before he went back inside. He peaked from the opening of the hole for about 5 minutes capturing as much heat as he can before he can have a good night sleep. It was a delightful moment since i started wildlife photography and the moment im going to remember for the rest of my life. Please enjoy this beautiful capture of the Eastern screed owl. Thank you! Gears: Nikon Z8 + Nikon Z 180-600mm lens

Eastern Screech Owl – Peaking out of a Light Pole

Nikon NIKON Z 8
NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
ISO ISO 3600 f/6.3 1/3200s
Finally i was able to capture my favorite Kite…. During my visit to south texas to see whooping cranes, I also traveled to several other areas and at Galveston State park in south Texas I was able to capture this beautiful white tailed kite in flight. Initially when I saw him flying over me i wasn’t sure what kind of a raptor he was but when i looked through my view finder it was almost certain I was looking at the lifer I’ve been looking for. Unfortunately i only got a brief moment and i didn’t realize that i had setup a slow shutter in the camera but im happy with most of the photos I took of the white tailed kite. And I’d love to share my favorite of all of the photos i got. I think white tailed kites have the cutest facial features of all kites. Hope you like this picture as much as I do.

White Tailed Kite – A Lifer

Nikon NIKON Z 8
NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
ISO ISO 250 f/6.3 1/1000s
Spent 4 days in the area where short eared owls were spotted for this less than a minute long moment. Most rewarding photo i took this year after i got in to wildlife photography back in September.

Short Eared Owl

Nikon NIKON Z 8
NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
ISO ISO 6400 f/6.3 1/800s