Wildlife spotting with a Malkoff...

[Toohotruk]

Last night around midnight, the girlfriend and I were driving down a road in a rural area near where I live. As I was driving, I saw a large bird land on a fence post on the left side of the road about 20 yards ahead of us. As we drove by, I noticed that it was a bird that I had never seen around here before, so I backed up the truck and asked the GF to hand me my Malkoff powered Mag. As the truck lined up with the post the bird was perched on, I clicked the light on and shined it on the bird. At this point, the bird was only about 5 feet away from us and was looking in the opposite direction. Suddenly, the bird turned it's head and looked straight at us...turns out that it was a rather large owl of some kind! He looked at us for about 10 seconds and then he took off...it was AWESOME!!!

I "followed" him with the light, as he swooped around this huge field for about 5 minutes, flying farther and farther from us, then he suddenly dove down and grabbed something. As he flew a little farther, we could see that he had something in his claws, (presumably a mouse), then he landed. At that point, I would guess that he was a good 100-150 yards yards away and it was kind of difficult to see him through the grass. We watched him for a few minutes, every once in awhile, he would lift his head up and look toward us, with his eyes glowing in the light, then he would go back to his feeding.

The experience REALLY made me happy I bought one (actually a couple) of Gene's drop-ins, because I guarantee that we would have not been able to see what we did if the Mag had been in stock form. Cool thing is, the GF might actually stop giving me a hard time about how I always have to drag my Mag along whenever we go somewhere ever since I got the Malkoff!

Just thought I'd share. 🙂

 

[Pokerstud]

Great story. I would have thought you would have ruined his night vision for a couple minutes. I presume you were using the smooth reflector. I love mine, and I use the stippled reflector Gene makes, and I still can't believe the throw I still get and the awesome spill.

 

[Toohotruk]

That's what I thought. I was sure he would have been blinded for quite some time...and thinking back, it was probably quite a bit longer than 5 minutes between the time he flew off and the time he swooped in for the kill. I actually lost him for a couple of minutes during the time he was swooping around. The girlfriend said that she thought it was closer to 15 minutes and she's probably right, I really wasn't keeping track of the time, due to being caught up in the moment.

It really was incredible to see something like that, especially around here. I've lived here for a little over 30 years, and I had no idea that there were any owls in this area.

I was using a smooth reflector in my Malkoffed 3D mag with 4 C batteries. It is an AWESOME combination!!!

 

[mightysparrow]

I don't know where you live, but I would guess at this time of year, and in the hunting habitat you describe, what you saw was probably a great horned owl. They sometimes tolerate a close approach, especially in a vehicle. Did it have feather tufts on its head? If so, it was either a long eared owl or a great horned owl. If there are thick woods nearby, it could have been either the long eared or great horned. If there were no thick woods nearby, I think it was a great horned, not a long eared.

Alternatively, it could have been a barred owl, but they are chiefly hunters of wooded lands, and they don't tolerate a close approach very often (except for areas where they are used to seeing lots of people). I know of two that allow people to get close- but they are in areas with lots of walkers- especially bird watchers and others who are fairly respectful of the birds and do not harass them.

Considering the fact that owls have extremely sensitive eyesight (many times as acute as human eyes- especially in the dark) the owl was probably blinded temporarily by the bright light coming directly at it. For the sake of the bird, it is best not to shine a flashlight directly at it-- that helps preserve the eyesight the bird depends on to avoid predators and to find food. Your owl was clearly trying to hunt when you saw it, which explains why its attention was not immediately drawn to your car and your eyes looking at it when you were only five feet away.

You were lucky to get such a good look at the bird. Next time you have a similary opportunity, I'd suggest pulling over on the side of the road opposite the bird and directing the light somewhat away from the bird. Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[WadeF]

Where about do you live? If you're in the US it may have been a Great Horned Owl. They are fairly common, at least around where I live (North East US) and they are pretty big. Did you catch what color the eyes were? I think Great Horned Owls have yellow eyes, but you might want to look the up with Google's image search and see if they look like what you saw.

 

[NA8]

I was using a smooth reflector in my Malkoffed 3D mag with 4 C batteries. It is an AWESOME combination!!!

Has anyone done a run time comparison of 3D vs 4C in a 3D Maglite ? I'd guess the regulation would be a bit longer but the total run time would be shorter. Am I close ?

 

[Toohotruk]

I live in central Utah...I looked at quite a few pictures of owls, and I think it was a barn owl. It had a white face and dark eyes, it's back was brown with tan splotches and it had a lighter colored belly. I don't think it had visible ears, if it did, they were very small.

It was an absolutely beautiful creature and I hope to see one again sometime. At the time, I didn't think about how the flashlight would disturb it's night vision...that light must have been excruciating, when you consider how well they can see in the dark. :shakehead

As far as comparisons between using 3 Ds and 4 Cs...I haven't done, nor do I have the time, nor the expertise to do runtime tests, but I have compared them side-by-side and the 4 Cs are definitely brighter. Not a huge difference, but to me, that difference makes it worth the loss of runtime running the Cs...even though the runtime is reduced, the Cs will still run for a VERY LONG time and you always have the option of putting D cells back in for extended use.

 

[Bushman5]

That's what I thought. I was sure he would have been blinded for quite some time...and thinking back, it was probably quite a bit longer than 5 minutes between the time he flew off and the time he swooped in for the kill. I actually lost him for a couple of minutes during the time he was swooping around. The girlfriend said that she thought it was closer to 15 minutes and she's probably right, I really wasn't keeping track of the time, due to being caught up in the moment.

It really was incredible to see something like that, especially around here. I've lived here for a little over 30 years, and I had no idea that there were any owls in this area.

I was using a smooth reflector in my Malkoffed 3D mag with 4 C batteries. It is an AWESOME combination!!!

do you mind if i ask you for some pics of that setup? i'm quite keen ont he Malkoff dropin for the mag

 

[Toohotruk]

do you mind if i ask you for some pics of that setup? i'm quite keen ont he Malkoff dropin for the mag

Here's a pic of my 3D with 4C Malkoff setup:




And the business end:



It's the head itself that's bent there...I think at some point, this light was run over by a truck, but I can't verify that (meaning nobody that was there is talking) for sure...I even tried changing to a less beat up bezel and it still turned out looking bent, so I changed it back to the one with "character."

I have the same setup in a much prettier 3D Mag as well and it throws slightly better due to it's straight and true head. The beater is no slouch though, by any means!:rock:

 

[NA8]

A little beat up eh ? You might look into this stuff:

http://www.houtsenterprises.net/index.html

 

[looman]

Last night around midnight, the girlfriend and I were driving down a road in a rural area near where I live. As I was driving, I saw a large bird land on a fence post on the left side of the road about 20 yards ahead of us. As we drove by, I noticed that it was a bird that I had never seen around here before, so I backed up the truck and asked the GF to hand me my Malkoff powered Mag. As the truck lined up with the post the bird was perched on, I clicked the light on and shined it on the bird. At this point, the bird was only about 5 feet away from us and was looking in the opposite direction. Suddenly, the bird turned it's head and looked straight at us...turns out that it was a rather large owl of some kind! He looked at us for about 10 seconds and then he took off...it was AWESOME!!!

I "followed" him with the light, as he swooped around this huge field for about 5 minutes, flying farther and farther from us, then he suddenly dove down and grabbed something. As he flew a little farther, we could see that he had something in his claws, (presumably a mouse), then he landed. At that point, I would guess that he was a good 100-150 yards yards away and it was kind of difficult to see him through the grass. We watched him for a few minutes, every once in awhile, he would lift his head up and look toward us, with his eyes glowing in the light, then he would go back to his feeding.

The experience REALLY made me happy I bought one (actually a couple) of Gene's drop-ins, because I guarantee that we would have not been able to see what we did if the Mag had been in stock form. Cool thing is, the GF might actually stop giving me a hard time about how I always have to drag my Mag along whenever we go somewhere ever since I got the Malkoff!

Just thought I'd share. 🙂

My shooting buddy is a falconer and has a number of raptors Inc a european eagle owl.

Where we shoot we see barn owls - now under threat in the UK due to pollution and intrusion on the environment. Also, it has been popular to convert farm barns into homes so they have had a double whammy. Seeing a barn owl on your patch is a very good sign.

We also see a lot of little owls - usually on the ground and at night (when they come down to catch worms and other insects) they look very much like a distant rabbit. We know the signs to look for and the differances in behaviour and response and we always possitively ID pests before slipping the shot. Red light adds to the difficulty in making a correct ID and I fear some will fall to shots by those who are more hasty.

They are wonderful creatures and the flight (especially particular species is totally silent. Their hearing can detect the heart beat of quarry like a mouse from distance (but as a mouse's heartbeat is so fast, it must sound like a miniture 2 stroke motorbike or mosquito).

Raptors have Talons by the way - mt falconer mate gets right testy if you call their bits and bobs by the wrong name.

On an aside, we were at a country fair this summer where he was putting up his hawks and long wings (falcons) for a display, this dim lady walked past muttering to her friend " They are lovely to look at but i dont see the point of them!!! It's not like they can do tricks like that parrot on a bicycle we saw at the zoo"..........

I sometimes despair of the human race.

My lights get to see an awful lot of wildlife - you should stop more often (safely) and take an occasional sweep around. You might be very surprised as to what might be illuminated. Hopefully it wont be his bum and her feet to often though 🙂.

 

[looman]

I live in central Utah...I looked at quite a few pictures of owls, and I think it was a barn owl. It had a white face and dark eyes, it's back was brown with tan splotches and it had a lighter colored belly. I don't think it had visible ears, if it did, they were very small.

It was an absolutely beautiful creature and I hope to see one again sometime. At the time, I didn't think about how the flashlight would disturb it's night vision...that light must have been excruciating, when you consider how well they can see in the dark. :shakehead

As far as comparisons between using 3 Ds and 4 Cs...I haven't done, nor do I have the time, nor the expertise to do runtime tests, but I have compared them side-by-side and the 4 Cs are definitely brighter. Not a huge difference, but to me, that difference makes it worth the loss of runtime running the Cs...even though the runtime is reduced, the Cs will still run for a VERY LONG time and you always have the option of putting D cells back in for extended use.

The tufts you see are not ears at all. Owls as a rule have disc under the feathers and they are also usually offset on the front and to the side of the head to allow them to be able to pinpoint the source of the noise and home in on it to the millimeter.

Birds like th eagle owl and horned owl have tufts for display, purposes and to show their state of mind and attitude- romance, territorial display, aggression etc.

They also fly by memory. Their eyesight is binocular so they can see at very long range, but their eyesight is basically quite cr*p close too. When they fly, they will see an image - say a gap inbetween two trees but as they approach, they become unable to see it due to blurring. They therefore have a kind of buffering system so whilst they cant see the physical tree, they remember where it was and navigate past.

his is why a lot of falconers at displays will ask the crowd to stand still if a bird of prey is flying at them. If someone panicks and moves at the wrong time, the bird may be too close to see and respond and a face full of eagle owl is going to leave an impression on both parties concerned.

 

[Toohotruk]

A little beat up eh ? You might look into this stuff:

http://www.houtsenterprises.net/index.html

I actually like how beat up that particular Mag is, for a couple of reasons...I like the fact that I can throw it behind the seat of my buddy's truck, or into the trunk of my girlfriend's car, or under the seat, or in a toolbox, etc, without worrying about scratching it up, plus, I just love the look on people's faces when I pull out a VERY beat up old flashlight, fire that sucker up and they see how bright it is! :devil: They ALWAYS say, "WOW! That's the brightest flashlight I have ever seen!" or "Holy Sh*t! I didn't expect that old beater to be that bright!" I LOVE a sleeper!

I can think of a few things that could benefit from a DuraCoat finish though, thanks for the link!

 

[jasonsmaglites]

are you guys talking about using 4 c cells on malkoffs drop in made for 2-3 cells?

or the one for 4-6 cells.
those are the two he offers right?
how much are they.
i'm about to pounce on one.

 

[Toohotruk]

My shooting buddy is a falconer and has a number of raptors Inc a european eagle owl.

Where we shoot we see barn owls - now under threat in the UK due to pollution and intrusion on the environment. Also, it has been popular to convert farm barns into homes so they have had a double whammy. Seeing a barn owl on your patch is a very good sign.

We also see a lot of little owls - usually on the ground and at night (when they come down to catch worms and other insects) they look very much like a distant rabbit. We know the signs to look for and the differances in behaviour and response and we always possitively ID pests before slipping the shot. Red light adds to the difficulty in making a correct ID and I fear some will fall to shots by those who are more hasty.

They are wonderful creatures and the flight (especially particular species is totally silent. Their hearing can detect the heart beat of quarry like a mouse from distance (but as a mouse's heartbeat is so fast, it must sound like a miniture 2 stroke motorbike or mosquito).

Raptors have Talons by the way - mt falconer mate gets right testy if you call their bits and bobs by the wrong name.

On an aside, we were at a country fair this summer where he was putting up his hawks and long wings (falcons) for a display, this dim lady walked past muttering to her friend " They are lovely to look at but i dont see the point of them!!! It's not like they can do tricks like that parrot on a bicycle we saw at the zoo"..........

I sometimes despair of the human race.

My lights get to see an awful lot of wildlife - you should stop more often (safely) and take an occasional sweep around. You might be very surprised as to what might be illuminated. Hopefully it wont be his bum and her feet to often though 🙂.

Amazing that somebody can't see the sheer beauty of these incredible animals and simply appreciate them for what they are.:shakehead

I used to go out with a girl years ago, whose father was a falconer and was one of the only people in the state (besides the zoo) that was allowed to nurse an injured Bald Eagle back to health in his back yard. That was incredible to stand near that majestic bird...his eyes were the fiercest I have ever seen on any creature. That was an experience I'll never forget!

Since the owl sighting, I took my light for a walk late at night, to a large field near my house and I shined it around and eyes lit up all over! I'm sure that some of them were deer and some probably cats...who knows what else was out there in the brush. Kind of creepy, standing there alone with all those mystery eyes looking at me! Very cool at the same time though!

This thread has become very interesting! Thanks to all of you that took the time to "enlighten" us with your knowledge!:thanks:

 

[Toohotruk]

are you guys talking about using 4 c cells on malkoffs drop in made for 2-3 cells?

or the one for 4-6 cells.
those are the two he offers right?
how much are they.
i'm about to pounce on one.

Both of the ones I bought from Gene were made for 2 to 4 cells...6V max.

He's got a few new aluminum drop-ins for D cell lights and a few for C cell lights...in fact, I just snagged one of the long awaited C versions just moments ago. YEEEEESSSSSS!!!!:naughty:

Here's a link to his site: http://www.malkoffdevices.com/

 

[Toohotruk]

Well, it happened again! The GF and I were driving around Saturday night and we wound up in the general neighborhood where we saw the owl and we saw another one! This one was smaller, but looked like the same breed, at least it had the same coloring. We watched it fly from fence post to fence post, it would stay at each post looking at the ground nearby for a couple of minutes each time...I presume it was hunting.

The field where we saw this one was about 1 mile from where we saw the other one...does anyone know what the hunting range is for one of these birds? Do they tolerate each other, or are they territorial?

BTW...this time we did our best to not blast it in the eyes with the Malkoff! We tried to keep it in the edge of the spill, just to the side of the hot spot, so we wouldn't ruin it's night vision.

 

[solidstate42]

How do you convert a 3D Cell Maglite into a 4C Cell Maglite? Thanks!!

 

[Bushman5]

How do you convert a 3D Cell Maglite into a 4C Cell Maglite? Thanks!!

you need a piece of plastic tubing, like plumbing tubing, cut it to fit the maglite, slip in 4 C cells.

 

[Toohotruk]

It's 1" PVC pipe and you have to reverse the spring and scrape the anodizing out of the tailcap, so the spring can make contact.

Works great!