I arrive at the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge before sunrise. I was parked near the office, enjoying a quick breakfast and coffee before heading to photograph on the auto tour road. I noticed an Owl flying across the road in front of me. I thought it was a Barred Owl, but when it landed in a nearby tree, I saw that it was a Great Horned Owl. It had a Crow harassing it. I didn’t have enough light to photograph this encounter. After watching the Owl for a few minutes, I saw that it flew back across the road and landed in a tree closer to the road. I moved my pickup to get in a better location to photograph this Owl. When I moved, the Owl once again flew across the road and landed in a nearby tree. I decided to wait and see if it would come back. After a few minutes, it did. I was able to get the below photo.

Great Horned Owl Peeking
Great Horned Owl

Gear Used:

  • Camera: Canon EOS R5
  • Lens: RF100-500 mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

Technical:

  • Location: Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge (Oklahoma)
  • Date and Time Taken: April 8, 2022 (06:08 A. M.)
  • Exposure Mode: Manual
  • Aperture: f7.1
  • Shutter speed: 1/800
  • ISO: 6400 (Auto)
  • White Balance: Auto
  • Metering Mode: Evaluative
  • Back-button Focus
  • Animal Eye Single Point Auto Focus
  • Exposure Compensation: 0.3
  • Focal Length: 500 mm