Daredevils of the darkness: Eastern screech owls

Описание: Screech owls usually fly quite close to the ground. Here in our backyard, we see them flying along the same trails used by those of us who are earthbound. They fly very swiftly, dodging the tunnel-like trees and branches with the confidence and skill of fighter pilots. In the pitch dark.

Dan’s cameras record at night in clear black and white, using infrared lights. The owls can’t see the lights but of course the cameras can, and Dan has arranged his lights so that the flying screech owls are perfectly lit as they speed towards us or settle onto a branch.

Most wildlife footage of this quality is recorded by professional cinematographers, who spend hours in wait hoping that their target critter will (a) appear, (b) get within camera range, and (c) hang around long enough to make it all worthwhile. Usually, the critters don’t oblige.

Dan captures videos like these ones by positioning motion-activated, security-style cameras where he thinks a bird or bug or animal will be and then sitting back and seeing what happens. If what happens is nothing much, he picks everything up and moves it. For every 5 seconds of usable video, his cameras record about 100 hours of trees waving in the breeze, spider webs wafting by, and falling leaves. That 5 seconds, though, will be world class, and videos like this one are a perfect example.

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