A Shot in the Dark

Things are beginning to happen, the snow is melting, the temperature is rising and birds and other wildlife are beginning to prepare for spring. One elusive resident we have nesting a couple of kilometers from our home is a pair Eurasian Eagle Owls, one of the largest species of owls in the world. You'd think such a large bird should be pretty easy to find, but our pair lives in a rock quarry, where there are trucks and blasting going on all day. That doesn't seem to bother them a bit, because it is also off limits to all unauthorized personnel. The best we "unauthorized personnel" can do is stand on a look out point impossibly far away and wait for the owls to come out and show themselves after sunset. It's like finding a needle in a haystack, and I pretty much suck at that. In any case this was my lucky day and I did manage to find the male owl before it was completely dark. I then got the Canon 7D ready with my 800mm lens and 2X extender... in the dark...
Well I didn't expect much but I am impressed at what a good lens and sensor can do even in near dark conditions.

1600mm at f13 1sec exposure. The exif data tells me the distance 4294967295 meters, and although it did feel that far, I think it was a bit closer.