Photographer captures shot of Buffy fish owl observing lightning strike at Rower's Bay Park

Nocturnal creatures get together.

Zoe Ern Yap | April 20, 2023, 06:07 PM

Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

Heard of a hobby called storm tracking?

There's a group of people in Singapore actively searching for opportunities to take photos of the "ultimate light up" during storms.

One storm tracking enthusiast recently had an unexpected member join him on his trip—a curious owl.

Image by Paul Lee/ Facebook.

Owl encounter

Photographer, and a member of SG Storm Trackers, Paul Lee, posted in Facebook group Singapore Wildlife Sightings about an owl joining him in his storm hunting activities.

Image by Paul Lee/ Facebook.

In his post, Lee praised the unfazed owl for being "more chill" than he was as they witnessed a lightning bolt across the reservoir.

Here's the serendipitous shot of the owl looking over water as lightning streaked across the night sky.

Lee told Mothership that he had been storm tracking alone that night.

The Buffy fish owl only arrived as he was about to leave.

In the video that Lee posted online, the owl perched on the railing and turned back to look at him at one point.

Video by Paul Lee.

He speculated that the nocturnal creature was about to start hunting for fish, as it flew down to the water while Lee was filming.

A Buffy fish owl can be identified by its long tawny ear-tufts and black-streaked, buffy rufous underparts.

It has dark brown upperparts and clear black streaks on its mantle, scapulars and upper wing coverts, according to the National Parks Board's (NParks) description.

The owl also has yellow irises.

According to the Singapore Birds Project, the bird is an uncommon resident species.

The local population of this species has increased in recent years, and it is now a vulnerable bird species in Singapore under the Singapore Red Data Book.

Not the first time?

Lee shared in his Facebook post that they had encountered owls in previous storm shoots at Rower's Bay Park.

While he cannot confirm that the owl is the same individual he had encountered before, Lee believes that is so as the sightings had been over the same body of water.

Below is a photo of the first time he encountered the owl at Rower's Bay Park in May 2021.

The owl spreading its wings in the night sky only appears as a black speck at the top left corner here:

Image by Paul Lee.

The owl and its partner can also be seen flying close to the storm in his second encounter in July 2021.

Owls in the sky at the top right of his photograph. Image by Paul Lee.

What is storm tracking?

For those who are interested to find out more, the avid storm tracker also explained that storm tracking or storm chasing simply means going wherever the storm is.

It is a "deliberate, considerate effort to monitor the movement of the storm," Lee elaborated.

Due to the lack of open space and traffic, it is more difficult to do so in a highly urbanised city like Singapore.

This means careful planning becomes really important if one wishes to see or photograph the storm from the best angle.

Lee started the hobby back in 2019 when he was based overseas.

He is one of the founding members of the #sgstormtrackers community, which was formed in 2020 for those interested to photograph storms. The group currently has about 100 members and is growing strong.

April is one of the months with higher lightning occurrences as it falls within the inter-monsoon period.

Sounds like a good time to join this group.

Related articles

Images via Paul Lee/ FB.