One more Owl pic

This one is not better than the previously posted images. What is special about it? Well... this is a different owl, roosting in a different part in the Botanic Gardens. Today I spotted the two of them.

Powerful Owl, NSW

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Powerful Owl – a bird of habit

I don't see Powerful Owls every day, but they seem to be birds of habit. Two live in Sydney Botanic gardens. Every time I go there I spot one bird – usually high in the branches of a fig tree, holding half a possum in its claws. Out of five sightings over a period of 4-5 months this was the only time the owl was in a nearby palm tree and without prey. All other photos I have are quite graphic and unpleasant to look at. These, too, are not great, but I thought it was about the time to post something...

I'm slowly losing motivation to shoot as my photographic gear seems to be ageing and not delivering the quality I'm after. My life lately has been full of all kinds of personal and professional disappointments and that, too, affects the levels of photographic enthusiasm.

Powerful Owl, NSW

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White Goshawk: second encounter

The second time I spotted the White Goshawk was in the middle of last week. This time there was no window between the lens and the bird. Again he (I think it's a male bird as the females are supposed to be quite big and this one is only slightly bigger than a Cockatoo) didn't stay still for more than 15-20 seconds. Obviously this is his way of hunting. He scans the area with his sharp eyes and moves to the next lookout. A beautiful bird. I'm sure the local Turtle Doves and Blackbirds would disagree...

I find the claws on the last photo very impressive. Grey Goshawk (white morph), Tasmania

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UFO

Unlike some fellow bloggers, I haven't had any luck with raptors so far. I either don't have the camera with me or they are just too far away, or back lit, or something else. I can't even ID this one. So, please, dear readers, if you know who this is, share your knowledge with the ignorant. :)

An unidentified Raptor, photographed in February near a beach in South-Eastern Tasmania

[edit - 12 April 2009] After Studying the link provided by BlackCrow and Dave Lewis' suggestion that it probably is a Harrier, I'm convinced now that this is a young Swamp Harrier!

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White Goshawk

[edit] For much better photos of the White Goshawk see this post: White Goshawk - Second Encounter

First of all, I would like to apologize to readers for not having time to post as regularly as I would like to. And I haven't had time to visit any fellow bloggers' sites recently either. I will try to catch up over the next few days.

Below are two pretty bad images of an awesome bird - the Grey Goshawk (White morph), also known as White Goshawk.
What's the story?
I had my camera's battery in the charger and was doing some house work when I had a look through the window and spotted something white quite far away. "Hm! What a funny looking Cockatoo." I thought. But the thought lasted only a millisecond. I quickly remembered a friend telling me about the white bird of prey he'd seen half a year ago. This made me shaking, but still I was quick enough: grabbed the camera, loaded the battery, and took five shots in one second through the dirty window. That was it. The bird was gone.

Grey Goshawk, White morph, Tasmania

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There is some inconsistency in the information about the color. Some sources call it phase, as if it is altering between the grey and white in the same individual, but others talk about morph (or form) which means that some individuals are white and others are grey. And I even found one stating that all Grey Goshawks on Tasmania are white. (This sounds funny. As my dad would say here: All the blue plums are red, 'cause they are still green.)
I consider it to be a morph rather than a phase.

Here is what Wikipedia says about it:
The Grey Goshawk, Accipiter novaehollandiae, the white morph of which is known as the White Goshawk, is a strongly built, medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.
The grey morph has a pale grey head and back, dark wingtips, barred grey breast and tail, and white underparts. The white morph is the only bird of prey in the world to be entirely white.[2]
Grey Goshawks are about 40–55 cm long, with wingspans of 70–110 cm. Females are much larger than males, weighing about 680 g. Males average 350 g.
This is the link to the whole article.

Shame shame shame :(

I've mentioned before that I'm more attracted to insignificant little creatures than to magnificent raptors, but this doesn't mean that I enjoy missed opportunities. I consider the following sequence to be one of my most disappointing failures in wild-life photography so far. The target was big, exposed, relatively easy to follow and came very close. I have an excuse for the terrible overexposure and wrong settings. I was very sick with a nasty flu that day and could hardly open my eyes. But... an excuse is just an excuse. It doesn't make the photos better. :(

White-breasted Sea Eagle, Tasmania

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