How to photograph a hunting Hawk Owl?

Ever wondered how to photograph birds of prey in hunting action? As a bird photographer you probably have. Well, here's your chance! And not just any bird of prey, but the secretive and elusive bird of the vast and remote Taiga forests: Hawk Owl.

Not every winter

In autumn after the breeding season Hawk Owls, like many other owl species, leave their breeding grounds and start wandering after food. In some years many Hawk Owls reach Oulu and Kuusamo areas, and if it is a good vole year, they settle down and stay over the winter. Whether we get Hawk Owls or not depend on many factors: the breeding must be successful, the wandering birds must reach the area, and the vole situation must be very good to make the owls settle down. The present situation up here has every sign of this all coming true this winter. The vole situation in Northern Finland, especially in Kuusamo area is very good, and several Hawk Owls have been sighted. A few Hawk Owls have also been recorded in Oulu area. We already have some snow on the ground, which suggests that the owls recorded are probably in their winter territory. We just have to keep our fingers crossed that the vole populations will survive throughout the coming winter.

The best time of the year to photograph hunting Hawk Owls is from late January onwards until March. With the snow the light conditions are good enough for photography, and the owls are on their winter territory. The snow cover is usually thick as well.

Visit outdoor shop and pet shop!

Ok, now there are Hawk Owls in the area and you have travelled all the way to the edge of a snowy Finnish field. The Hawk Owl is sitting on a tree top and doing just about nothing. If you are lucky enough to see a kill, it will of course happen too far to photograph. Now what? Like almost all creatures in the nature, also Hawk Owls can be fooled with suitable prey to come to you. And Hawk Owl's food is small rodents. Fortunately, pet snakes eat the same stuff, and there are deep-frozen mice and rats for sale in pet shops. All you have to do is to pretend to be the owner of a very hungry snake, and buy several mice.

But getting this far is not enough. The mouse is dead and it won't jump on snow to catch the owl's attention. To make the dead mouse jump on snow you need a fishing rod and some line. Yes, it does look kind of funny ? it is bizarre to walk on a snowy field with fishing rod in your hand. And seeing you walking a dead mouse can really make someone's day! But we don't care about the passers-by. After melting the mouse, you tie a piece of thin woolen twine at the end of the fishing line. And in the end of the woolen twine, you tie the mouse. The twine (or the knot) must be weak enough for the owl to break it when catching the mouse. Now we are getting in to business.

Speed is everything

Have a look at the background. Try to find a solid forest edge without any houses, telegraph poles etc. Also the snow cover should be untouched. Then set the mouse with the fishing line in the wanted spot and cover it with a little bit of snow. The Hawk Owls are usually rather tame, so you will be able to operate on the field and take your time to do the needed preparations. The best distance to the mouse depends on your lens, but generally it is some 20-30 meters. After have made all the settings (see below) ready in your camera, you start slowly reeling the mouse on the snow. Instead of reeling in steadily, do little tweaks while reeling. And keep your eye on the owl all the time!

Now the owl takes off and dives towards the mouse! After a couple of seconds everything is over. The empty fishing line lands on the snow and the owl is flying away. Did you get anything? It will all depend on how fast you, your camera body and the lens were.

When the owl takes off, it dives down close to the snow surface to collect maximum speed, and with this speed it comes for the mouse. And it is fast indeed! With fast lenses and bodies it is possible to lock on and follow the owl while it is diving towards the mouse. The best way to ensure the maximum depth of field is to set the camera on TV mode (Canon), and set the speed up to 1/ 3200 or so. The ISO setting should be as high as possible for acceptably noiseless images. Then the camera automatically sets the smallest possible aperture. Because the owl will be flying against white snow, you'll need to expose 2/3-1 stop over.

If you think you or your camera are not fast enough to lock on the fast flying owl, the other way is to pre-focus. The pre-focus should be set a few inches behind or front of the mouse, because at the moment of striking the mouse, the owl always closes its eyes, which doesn't look good in the pictures. If you are lucky you have one sharp shot at exactly the desired moment. The faster body you have the better chances you have to get the sharp one. For pre-focusing a tripod is naturally essential, but if you prefer to lock on the flying bird, hand-holding is a better option. Of course, if you think it is easier for you to follow the bird by using a tripod, use it. When shooting hunting Hawk Owl, speed is everything.

Again and again

Don't get depressed, if you fail the first few times. Hawk Owl is a co-operative species in many ways. They are active during the daylight and they usually (not every individual) learn quickly to come for the mice offered to it. After it has caught a few mice with the fishing line, it usually learns to come and get the mice just thrown out on to the snow without the line. In addition to this, they store the food they don't eat. That's why it is possible to offer the owl several mice during one session and it is possible to try again and again. What's more, especially after having been taught? to come for the mice offered, they will faithfully wait for you to come - every day, sitting on the same tree-top. The only problem you may face at some point is that your local pet shop has ran out of mice!

Together with a Finnature guide

As you have noticed, it is anything but easy to photograph hunting Hawk Owls. But with Finnature it is possible. Our guides have knowledge of where the owls are, we have large stocks of mice in our freezer - and it is the Finnature guide who looks ridiculous pushing ahead in the snow walking the dead mouse at the end of the fishing line! The guide sets the baits for you (almost) wherever you want. Your sole responsibility is to get the once-in-the-lifetime pictures!