I agree with Nils, the photo in question appears to have been doctored. The stump on which the owl is perched looks very much like one seen at Parc Omega in Quebec, as seen in the attached link. http://community.webshots.com/photo/203396675/1203397089052305271sdTgxD.
I hope this is not the case, as I can't understand Eric's motivation to do such a thing. Looking at his gallery he has taken many fine pictures and certainly has nothing to prove in his ability to capture some fine bird images. Ian Clark Sent using cyberus.ca WebMail - http://www.cyberus.ca/ From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Mar 2 16:21:08 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from nproxy.gmail.com (unknown [64.233.182.202]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9B81163EFF for <[email protected]>; Thu, 2 Mar 2006 16:20:44 -0500 (EST) Received: by nproxy.gmail.com with SMTP id y25so373603nfb for <[email protected]>; Thu, 02 Mar 2006 13:20:43 -0800 (PST) DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=beta; d=gmail.com; h=received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:cc:mime-version:content-type; b=OM6fdIgjW2xV6jgKWmH2iP7PVtrJ8jLozstHouJuytdOr95nkPikAUuJV5d5g3FtAtWrs/VUKQIpyMtcA793cMvhWi1OPO+1xAnHEHQZkdV9gLCQUUB1eHYluGqN66hhnT3GYM4TujdnXpAzTZzf1CVaIPEujvLxQ/mvyfZWV9c= Received: by 10.49.41.4 with SMTP id t4mr852519nfj; Thu, 02 Mar 2006 13:20:43 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.49.19.18 with HTTP; Thu, 2 Mar 2006 13:20:43 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 16:20:43 -0500 From: "Harold Stiver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Ontbirds]Barn Owl Fraud? Not necessarily MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.1 cc: [email protected] X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2006 21:21:08 -0000 I have taken a close look at the Barn owl image as well as the image Ian Clark linked to and I can find no conclusive evidence that this is a doctored photo. The posts They are certainly similar but I have placed Ian's submission as a layer on the original.Of course the images need not have been taken from the same direction but I could find no evidence that the cracks are the same. The angles of the top and the markings are very similar but there may be thousands of similarly manufactured posts. The barn owl legs. If we assume that any doctering would involve removal of jesses or bands, they would probably be done by cloning portions of the legs over the bands. This would leave similarily colored groups of pixels. There are groups that look similar but I could find none of the same color value. If it is doctored, it is done seamlessly. The Exif information As noted the exif information agrees with the caption. The outline of the subject There is no evidence that the bird was pasted whatever. This is very difficult to pull off. Other matters Many times captive birds have wear on the outside of their bill where they rub on their perch . I see none on this bird. I cannot say for sure one way or the other but until there is a proof otherwise I will take Mr. Cote's word for it. BTW, I don't know him at all. Regards, Harold Stiver On 3/2/06, Ian Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I agree with Nils, the photo in question appears to have been doctored. > The stump on which the owl is perched looks very much like one seen at > Parc > Omega in Quebec, as seen in the attached link. > http://community.webshots.com/photo/203396675/1203397089052305271sdTgxD. > > I hope this is not the case, as I can't understand Eric's motivation to d= o > such a thing. Looking at his gallery he has taken many fine pictures and > certainly has nothing to prove in his ability to capture some fine bird > images. > > Ian Clark > > Sent using cyberus.ca WebMail - http://www.cyberus.ca/ > _______________________________________________ > ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincia= l > birding organization. > Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] > For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit > http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdshow.htm > ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm > -- Harold Stiver Paris, Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://ontfin.com/ From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Mar 2 16:52:57 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from nproxy.gmail.com (unknown [64.233.182.203]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8783563489 for <[email protected]>; Thu, 2 Mar 2006 16:52:34 -0500 (EST) Received: by nproxy.gmail.com with SMTP id x4so375401nfb for <[email protected]>; Thu, 02 Mar 2006 13:52:34 -0800 (PST) DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=beta; d=gmail.com; h=received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:mime-version:content-type; b=YzlGXfr2xh0M53q6cRKGqE4TyqB5o9G9pvJ2i5TyFEYMKJmFUO1Z06o1cDuj6WXeQGMABrXmjRY0Jqs29i+qmlFHbpyXpcwiIqB2oZdX3Z/QJ1wYGtgR2OhaCP3cOD4vhAN4Wcsxi1jGp5YFMDlqbric0yeOgbBlrHyh2S2R9pE= Received: by 10.48.226.12 with SMTP id y12mr877212nfg; Thu, 02 Mar 2006 13:52:34 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.49.19.18 with HTTP; Thu, 2 Mar 2006 13:52:34 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 16:52:34 -0500 From: "Harold Stiver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: ONTBIRDS <[email protected]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.1 Subject: [Ontbirds]Apologies X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2006 21:52:58 -0000 I'm sorry for continuing a discussion regarding the recent owl image. As wa= s correctly pointed out to me, this is not proper within the posting guidelines. -- Harold Stiver Paris, Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://ontfin.com/ From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Mar 2 16:53:27 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from tomts43-srv.bellnexxia.net (tomts43-srv.bellnexxia.net [209.226.175.110]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8F49B63489 for <[email protected]>; Thu, 2 Mar 2006 16:52:58 -0500 (EST) Received: from personaldil636 ([64.230.117.8]) by tomts43-srv.bellnexxia.netSMTP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for <[email protected]>; Thu, 2 Mar 2006 16:52:58 -0500 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Ott User" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> References: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [Ontbirds]Barn Owl Fraud? Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 16:53:01 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2006 21:53:27 -0000 I read some info on http://ca.geocities.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/rba06.htm#BarnOwl1 regarding the Barn Owl sighting/photo in question. Now, I'm not sure if the photo is "doctored" or not. What are the signs that it has beem tampered with? Although in the digital age it would not be too hard to do for someone proficient in image editing but what are the indications in the photo to suggest that has taken place? The only thing that was brought up on the link above that struck me is the fence post in the image. I profess to not know much about the variety of fence posts out there but will rely on the word of those with more knowledge on such matters that the post in the picture was specially sculpted/made for a raptor to perch on. I can see why though, because the edges are sloped so a talon can rest on it (this is just a guess on my part as to why and I may be wrong). What are the odds such a post would be in a farmers field? Since some directions to the sighting is given would it be hard to check out or take a look at the posts in that area to see if any resemble the one shown in the picture? If I recall correctly, it was a post dividing two farm properties. Based on the lens used (a 500mm lens and a 1.6x crop camera sensor the distance of the owl to the photographer is about 800mm which is less reach than some birding scopes). Based on the quality of the image the owl would have been photographed very close (Sunday was a sunny day in eastern Ontario which may have helped...can't recall if there were any clouds). So the "fence post" in question shouldn't be too far into a field. This is just my 2 cents on the matter. I hope the photo in question is not a tampered one because it would be great if such an owl were to be here in eastern Ontario. As for EXIF (camera, picture info such as date, time, settings) files I think they can be manipulated with software (not implying they were done in this case at all) but correct me if I am wrong on this. The only time I have ever seen a Barn owl is at Parc Omega in the Summer but it would be great to see such an owl in the wild for sure. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ian Clark" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 3:15 PM Subject: [Ontbirds]Barn Owl Fraud? >I agree with Nils, the photo in question appears to have been doctored. > The stump on which the owl is perched looks very much like one seen at > Parc > Omega in Quebec, as seen in the attached link. > http://community.webshots.com/photo/203396675/1203397089052305271sdTgxD. > > I hope this is not the case, as I can't understand Eric's motivation to do > such a thing. Looking at his gallery he has taken many fine pictures and > certainly has nothing to prove in his ability to capture some fine bird > images. > > Ian Clark > > Sent using cyberus.ca WebMail - http://www.cyberus.ca/ > _______________________________________________ > ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial > birding organization. > Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] > For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit > http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdshow.htm > ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm >
