28 Feb 2025

Photo Stories – Tawny Owl

by | posted in: English, Novinky | 0

Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)

Date taken: February 19, 2025, 5:31 PM

Location: Prague

Weather: Partly cloudy. Daytime temperature: -1°C.

Owls are without a doubt among my favorite birds. I use almost every moment I spend in nature—whether intentionally or by chance—to look for them. In this case, it was a deliberate visit to a known location where a tawny owl resides.

As I approached the site, I didn’t really expect to get lucky. Based on recent reports, I assumed the owl would be in a spot that wasn’t very photogenic, and I’d just end up with a simple documentary photo. To my surprise, the owl was exactly where it could be photographed quite nicely.

I spent a fairly long time nearby, and the owl offered me many opportunities for both photography and video.

The biggest surprise came when I was watching the owl perched by its cavity, and suddenly I heard another tawny owl calling from a different spot. The mystery was solved—there are two owls here, most likely a pair. They called to each other alternately, and I managed to record footage of the calling owl as well as take photos of the second one inside the cavity, though in a less photogenic place.

Photography Equipment Used

Camera: Nikon Z6 II

Lens: Nikon NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR

EXIF Data

Focal length: 600 mm

Aperture: f/6.3

Shutter speed: 1/400 s

ISO: 6400

Exposure compensation: 0 EV

Technical Note

In February and March, the owl breeding season begins, which is the best time to find them. Since you usually hear them rather than see them, it’s a good idea to listen to their calls online beforehand. You can look for the Eurasian pygmy owl (Glaucidium passerinum) already in the evening; it flies before sunset and sometimes basks on spruce treetops. The boreal owl also inhabits the forest and calls shortly after dusk. The Eurasian eagle-owl is generally heard only after dark, usually near cliffs.

The tawny owl hoots throughout the night, even in city parks and cemeteries, where long-eared owls also like to rest during the day on conifers. You can recognize a roosting site by white splashes on the trunk and pellets beneath the tree. These pellets are compact, cylindrical masses containing bones, fur, and feathers that the owls cannot digest. Sometimes, a flock of noisy birds will alert you to a resting owl as they chase it away from their territory.

Photo of the second tawny owl on site (left)

Focal length: 600 mm | Aperture: f/6.3 | Shutter speed: 1/320 s | ISO: 6400 | Exposure compensation: 0 EV