I spent Earth Day photographing birds of prey at an avian conservation center. This opportunity is part of the center’s education mission, along with research, conservation and providing medical care to injured raptors and large shore birds.

The first owl we photographed was a Savigny’s Eagle Owl, a native of much of northern Africa and the Arabian peninsula.

The variable brown coloring is a camouflage asset in its home desert regions.

Savigny’s Eagle Owl, Bubo ascalaphus

The Center for Birds of Prey offers photographers an opportunity to take close-up photographs of owls and other birds of prey a few times a year.

The Center for Birds of Prey, Photography Day, April 22, 2018,  Awanda, SC.