Photograph of the Month November 2023 – European Pygmy Owl

The photograph of the month for November 2023 comes from my recent Finland extension workshop (Read the Trip Report) and is of a European Pygmy Owl. This photograph was pure serendipity as I had gone into the evening hide to try and photograph an Eagle Owl (a nocturnal bird). Whilst darkness descended and I waited for a potential Eagle Owl sighting, this European Pygmy Owl flew down and landed briefly on a nearby branch. It only stayed a moment or two before it disappeared into the darkness of the night and forest, but it was an incredible few seconds and a fantastic sighting. It was so dark when I shot this that all I could see was a faint outline and silhouette of the owl on the branch. I could not tell what species it was, only that it was owl-shaped. This photograph of the Pygmy Owl would have been impossible just a generation of camera equipment ago. Shot at ISO12,800 at f4 at just 1/20th of a second, handheld with the Canon EOS R3 and Canon RF600mm F4L IS. The combination of the image stabilisation in the lens, working in conjunction with the IBIS in the EOS R3, enabled me to hold the camera and lens steady for a pin-sharp image, even at just 1/20th of a second. No flash or artificial lighting was used for this photograph. The EOS R3 locked focus on the eye of the bird in virtually total darkness – an incredible feat of technology. I also discussed the making of this photograph in Podcast Episode 83.