It was quite late in the afternoon when we finally arrived in the woods where this species was reported to roost. Then, by the time just one owl had been located, the setting sun was very low in the sky and was (from our only vantage point) nearly behind the bird! I took several shots at various camera settings, hoping that one would be halfway decent. This one was taken at ISO 200, aperture F2.7, exposure time 1/4 sec (OK, I guess, when the camera and scope are on a tripod and the bird doesn't move a feather!), and exposure compensation -1.3. As it turned out, a number of factors -- the diminishing daylight, the backlighting, a few very out-of-focus gray branches in the foreground -- these all seemed to add an appropriate touch of mystique to this owl in its late winter hideaway.
