Superbowl

From Adam Maniam

About 2 years ago, I posted a photo of 2 Sunda Scops Owls (now called Collared Scops Owls) mating. At the time, I believed that it was the only record of this species of owl mating in Singapore, and possibly in the world (though I am very happy to be proven wrong).

To be honest, it was not a great photo - the shutter speed was very low (1/15sec), the male was very excited, and so most of it was "artistic" (to put it nicely). See the first comment for that "photo".

2 years later, I was incredibly lucky to get the chance to shoot a mating pair again, and this time I think (I hope?) that the result is better. I was actually at Pasir Ris Park to shoot the stork-bill kingfishers but one flew off just after I arrived and none reappeared. As I sadly headed to the toilet before leaving empty-handed, I decided to check a tree where these CSOs are frequently seen and I saw the female. As I was taking photos of her at 1/15sec, the male flew in.

As he scrambled to mount her, I scrambled to get my shutter speed up to 1/30sec and thankfully, this one was fairly sharp. The female (which was fairly still) is mostly sharp while there is some motion blur on the male which was doing more of the movement between the 2. The encounter lasted just 2-3 seconds and the male flew off.

I'm not surprised that there aren't many mating shots of these owls because on both occasions, they were in a really poorly lit environment where long exposures would be the order of the day and any movement would result in blurred shots. This photo has had exposure lifted in post and was a relatively high ISO and as low a shutter speed as I could safely go. No flash or torch was used, despite how bright it seems.

I am not sure if I will ever get to see (let alone photograph) this again in my lifetime so I am really, really thankful to have had not one but two opportunities.

Shot handheld at 1/30sec with the OM-1II and 150-400F4.5 at about 450mm FF EFV. Pasir Ris Park, Singapore, March 2026