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by OntPhoto on Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:09 pm
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I have seen great looking photos of flying squirrels at night.  Think many of the flying ones are taken with a speed trap and flash setup.  To avoid eye-shine, I suppose the key is to make sure the flash is elevated way up from the focal plane.  Anyone here try photographing flying squirrels at night (well, they are pretty much nocturnal). 
 

by Mike in O on Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:04 am
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I bet most shots taken are in a captive situation...they are not that easy to find unless you are a Spotted Owl (major prey species).
 

by OntPhoto on Wed Aug 26, 2015 4:09 am
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Mike in O wrote:I bet most shots taken are in a captive situation...they are not that easy to find unless you are a Spotted Owl (major prey species).

Mike, you may be right about the good photos being done in a captive situation but I don't really know.  I did a Google search and saw some nice shots.  Have a look if you like.  And I totally agree with you about them being hard to find.  I did not know they were around in eastern Ontario until seeing my first one two years ago. That opened my eyes and made me very curious. So I began researching them online. Thing is, they are nocturnal and it'll be almost like looking for an owl in the dark unless you know where to look.  Fortunately, I do know where they are and wanted to take some photos, maybe not of them flying as that'll mean doing some set up but just some decent photos. And I know straight-on flash will result in the inevitable "steel-eye".

One of my goals is to photograph a young northern saw-whet owl.  A recently fledged saw-whet has the most darn cutest face you've seen on an owl.  They have these chocolate brown feathers  mixed with some white in a pattern that makes them adorable.  Even cuter than an adult saw-whet owl.  I think most people who have great photos of them at that stage, recently fledged and maybe even up to 2 months afterward, either know a bird bander and tag along or happen upon a nest which is rare.  Although if you read some of the older accounts they are not too hard to find if you know where to look.  Some of those old accounts may sound cruel and it is to me but that's how they used to get to see them up close and do research.  Yeah, they shoot them even on the nest.  That's how "birding" was done back then.  Saw-whet owls do nest near here.  I am doing some scouting and research online and digging thru some literature.  Some day hopefully, I will get to see one (recently fledged or in the nest).

Even though it is still summer and shorebird season is upon us, I am already looking forward to owls.  Saw-whets begin to migrate end of September and that's only about 4 1/2 weeks away.  Time flies.  Around the same time the annual winter finch forecast comes out for the province of Ontario (which affects surrounding provinces and neighbouring States).  Can't wait to read the one for this year.  Owls are one of my favourite subjects.  I've been keeping track this summer via a birding app and read about at least 2 and maybe 3 nesting boreal owls with fledglings, nesting saw-whet owls and nesting northern hawk owls.  All quite a drive from here and most likely kept very quiet.  It's still good data to have from an educational perspective.  I am always curious and learning. This summer there hasn't been much in the way of over-summering snowy owls but a few have been reported. BTW, I saw my first flying squirrel during a Fall saw-whet owl banding session.  It ended up in the mist net.
 

by Larsen on Thu Aug 27, 2015 2:09 am
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I was at Joe & Mary Ann McDonald's house several years ago when they had a night time flying squirrel setup in place - most definitely the squirrels were not  captive. The squirrels came each night to feed, and there was a large number of them jumping & gliding all around the tree where the seed was. If you're where flying squirrels dwell, they can be photographed. They were getting nice images. Joe & Mary Ann are releasing a new book soon on night wildlife, flying squirrels are included. Might be a good book to get:
Creatures of the Night by Joe & Mary Ann McDonald
_
 

by OntPhoto on Thu Aug 27, 2015 4:49 pm
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Larsen wrote:I was at Joe & Mary Ann McDonald's house several years ago when they had a night time flying squirrel setup in place - most definitely the squirrels were not  captive. The squirrels came each night to feed, and there was a large number of them jumping & gliding all around the tree where the seed was. If you're where flying squirrels dwell, they can be photographed. They were getting nice images. Joe & Mary Ann are releasing a new book soon on night wildlife, flying squirrels are included. Might be a good book to get:
Creatures of the Night by Joe & Mary Ann McDonald
Good to know.  I also found the article below.  And one of those high speed infrared things is the way to go.  No different than photographing bats and flyng owls in the dark.  The southern flying squirrels are on private property and I am there by invitation so likely not going to the elborate lengths to capture flying shots.  To not impose.  Winter may be a different story as most backyards are not being used and even better if I can locate some on nearby public property.  For now I am just content to see these seldom seen flying squirrels and get a few decent shots in the process.  The key to getting photos of any species is to know where they are :)



[font=Tahoma]Photographing flying squirrels at night[/font]


Last edited by OntPhoto on Sat Aug 29, 2015 8:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 

by OntPhoto on Fri Aug 28, 2015 6:55 am
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Finally had the opportunity to photograph one of three Flying Squirrels (southern species) last night. Learned a bit about their behaviour and had close up looks at them.  Think the vast majority of people living in the Ottawa area do not even realize there are Flying Squirrels around and that these nocturnal creatures may be right in their own backyard given suitable habitat. I'd need to set up a remote camera trap and flash setup if I want flying photos.


http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/image/161132656/original
 

by Paul Skoczylas on Fri Sep 04, 2015 3:04 pm
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At my cabin, just north of Edmonton, if I fill the bird feeder in the afternoon, there will be flying squirrels there at night... It wouldn't be hard to set a feeder up so that the glide path to/from it was predictable, making a photo trap successful.

Around here, they are just as numerous as red squirrels (we don't have the black/grey ones), but since they're nocturnal, most people never see one. Of course, there was also the time one fall when I was checking my owl boxes to see if they'd been used that summer--when I put the ladder against the tree, a flying squirrel popped out!

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by OntPhoto on Mon Sep 07, 2015 1:49 am
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Paul Skoczylas wrote:At my cabin, just north of Edmonton, if I fill the bird feeder in the afternoon, there will be flying squirrels there at night...  It wouldn't be hard to set a feeder up so that the glide path to/from it was predictable, making a photo trap successful.  

Around here, they are just as numerous as red squirrels (we don't have the black/grey ones), but since they're nocturnal, most people never see one.  Of course, there was also the time one fall when I was checking my owl boxes to see if they'd been used that summer--when I put the ladder against the tree, a flying squirrel popped out!

-Paul
The place where I photographed mine is in someones backyard.  He set up a feeder and it took 3 weeks for the flying squirrels to find it.   I read the account behind the great flying squirrel photos I found on a Google search and apparently it took them a number of weeks to get the good shots.  Night after night the photo trap and strong flash gun would do its job while they were asleep.  

Funny how you mention not seeing any of the gray squirrels up your way at the cabin.  Have plenty of them here and probably won't take much to get a population going if someone transported a few up there :-).  They've probably become pests on some peoples property.  Once in a long while I'd see a few laying around that look like they've been trapped or poisoned. 
 

by LouBuonomo on Tue Sep 08, 2015 3:21 pm
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and not one mention of a moose and a Russian couple......
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by OntPhoto on Fri Sep 11, 2015 3:56 am
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LouBuonomo wrote:and not one mention of a moose and a Russian couple......

I didn't know Rocky (from Rocky and Bullwinkle) was a flying squirrel.  Now I do :)
Image
 

by Steve Roman on Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:36 am
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OntPhoto wrote:
LouBuonomo wrote:and not one mention of a moose and a Russian couple......

I didn't know Rocky (from Rocky and Bullwinkle) was a flying squirrel.  Now I do :)
Image

Duh.. :wink:

Actually, I have a group in my backyard.  They are especially fond of the suet feeders, .....not so much the Barred Owls.
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by OntPhoto on Wed Sep 16, 2015 4:39 am
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Steve Roman wrote:

Actually, I have a group in my backyard.  They are especially fond of the suet feeders, .....not so much the Barred Owls.

This fella's got a pair of barred owls in his backyard too.  Infact, he was trying to call them the same night.  No response.  Goof thing.
 

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