#Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes, which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers adapted for silent flight. Exceptions include the diurnal northern hawk-owl and the gregarious burrowing owl. A group of owls is called a "parliament."

Featured here are some owls I have been fortunate to capture over the years and like always some were easy, some were all night stands, some were in the freezing cold, some were a long walk through dense jungles, with some there was light, with some there was none.

#wildartworks, #owls, #birdsofprey, #nocturnal, #Owl, #birdinginthewild, #birdphotography, #raptor

One of the most challenging aspects of wildlife photography is getting close to the subject. The act of moving stealthily and stalking wildlife is known as “fieldcraft”, and it comes with experience of being outdoors and learning from the mistakes we make. Approaching animals is a marathon, not a sprint, and fast approaches will result in clumsy errors that cause the subject to become jumpy and eventually & very quickly disappears into the distance or undergrowth.

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The Yezo sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) is one of the many subspecies of the sika deer found on the island of Hokkaido. Mainly a forest-dwelling deer, they prefer forested areas that have a dense understory. The sika that inhabit the island of Hokkaido are indigenous, although it is not known whether they originated there or migrated from the main island of Japan. It is thought they may have traveled across the strait between the islands.

#wildartworks, #sikadeer, #yezosikadeer, #hokkaido, #notsukepeninsula, #deer

The word Halcyon, which is also the genus for Tree #Kingfishers, is a term for peace and tranquillity. Being extremely territorial, these active little birds are anything but tranquil; nor are they quiet, as their calls can often be heard from the tree-tops in an otherwise peaceful wilderness. 

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Myths & misconceptions surround this diminutive bird, which can hide in plain sight despite its dazzling plumage. The most enduring #kingfisher myth owes its 2,000-year history partly to Aristotle, who claimed that the bird made its nest on the sea surface in a period of winter calm.

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#Kingfishers are a family of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order #Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The family contains 114 species and is divided into three subfamilies and 19 genera. I have been able to photograph a few of these across Asia Pacific with some coming quite easily and some coming after waiting for hours, damp and cold but worth every bit the wait. Featured here are a few species, some easily seen and some rare, threatened and critically endangered.

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Blakiston’s fish owls, the largest living species of #owls in the world, an endangered species that lives in some of the hardest-to-reach corners of northeast Asia. There are thought to be less than 1000 pairs of these birds remaining in the wild, with very few individuals held in captivity. Found only in northeast Asia, this secretive species has a fragmented distribution in the remote forests of Hokkaido in northern Japan, the Russian Far East, and northeastern China. #wildartworks, #Bubo_blakistoni, #birdinginthewild, #birdphotography, #nature, #wildlife, #raptor, #owl, #endangered

Somewhere deep within the Kushiro-shitsugen National Park, in the Kottaro wetlands along the banks of the Kushiro, I found the elusive Ural Owl. Named for the Ural Mountains of Russia which is part of their natural range and where the first specimen was collected, these owls are threatened by humans eliminating the hollow trees they nest in. #WildArtWorks, #UralOwl, #Hokkaido, #BirdPhotography, #Birdinginthewild, #raptor, #owl