Powerful owl 5

Is this one female?

They're normally not very vocal now.
If you can record the calls it can be usually easy to tell male from female. But not always the

In general terms, since now is when they are most sensitive to disturbance (starting about late May when they're preparing to lay eggs), it is best not to use flash to photograph them, as that could disturb the owls beyond what would be considered an acceptable level. Usually, once a pair has chicks in the hollow then it's thought to be "safe" to take photos with flash. 

Naturally, with single owls, that may not be the case, but I'd be very careful until about spring, especially if you are still new to owls. 

Another thing I was recently made aware of by an owl researcher friend is that despite what folks say or think (I also used to after having read about it before), using red filters or red lights will not make it less disturbing for the owls as a plain white light. In my friend's words, a soft, white light, shone a little bit at a time is far less disturbing. It has something to do with the cones in owls' eyes and how they receive different wavelengths of light. With them apparently being more sensitive to the red spectrum than thought before.

But, he said, the red light/filter is good for nocturnal mammals. 

dmp, How did you avoid a Red-eye in the first two photographs?

Thanks Dave I need to spend more time on Photoshop.