I have been noticing every evening that the sunsets are just beautiful, but I have not had the chance to try to capture them. As I mentioned before, I have also been trying to get a good shot of the Northern Harrier.
I thought I would kill two birds with one stone this evening...I waited and headed out there soon as the football game was over. Still light enough till I should have plenty of light to capture a hawk, but late enough till I should be out there when the sunset came.
I seen hawks, but I could not get close enough to get a good capture. The first time I was out there and saw them, they did not seem to mind the vehicle and it didn't seem to bother them if I pulled to the side of the road and got out. Now, they must feel my desperation and will not stick around at all.
At first I became totally occupied with watching the geese...just unbelievable numbers. I took a lot of pictures but nothing close up. I went on and left there to run on over into Illinois to check out some of the cornfields. I was hoping they would be close to the road in them, but did not see a one in the normal place I see them. So, I turned back around and headed for the strip pit area again.
I made a new discovery--owls! Numbers of them! I bet I saw at least 8 or 10 of them, but I really think there were more. I think from the one of the books one of my daughters got me that it is a Short-eared Owl. And from the description of its flight and living area, it all points to that being what it is. Not to mention the yellow eyes.
These were take really late in the evening. I had the ISO set at 1600, and I had trouble and could not seem to get them in focus. I have probably two dozen shots with these being the best. I seen more owls this one time than I have seen in my entire 53 years!
I leave you with one that was taken really late--I used fill-flash to lighten it and hope I got it light enough for you to see.
