Today was one of those days when I am thrilled to live on the Arctic Riviera! Instead of extremely cold sub zero weather, when I went owling before sunset the wind was calm, the skies were blue, and the temperature was just a few degrees below freezing. Better yet, my birding hit the jackpot 30 minutes before sunset. I found a Snowy Owl which was beginning its evening hunt. Not only did this owl not mind my presence, at one point while I was watching this bird from a distance of 40 yards, it actually flew over and landed on the pole in the picture directly above my head.
Uff Dah! I actually had to walk away from the Snowy Owl unless I wanted to take images straight up. Now from a distance of 20 yards I waited with my finger on the shutter for the Snowy to fly. Twice there were false alarms as this bird thought it had a vole in its sights, but the third time was a charm! The owl flew and I pressed down and did a burst of photographs. Here are my favorite two images. Now that I know where this bird hunts, I plan on making more late afternoon excursions.
Another great photo capture of a great bird that says “Up North” like few others things can.
The number of Snowy Owls seen have increased in the last week or so. The late afternoon I photographed this Snowy Owl, another three owls were also seen at the middle school and the in the airport area.
Definitely a banded Snowy, which is also why there is some black markings on its head. Hoping I can refind my pure white, unbanded male!
Awesome photos Richard. It looks like the bird is banded to me. I thought it was a shadow, but it is visible in both shots and the second photo has a glare to it when zoomed in. Please let me know what you think when you relook at it.
Keep the posts and the pictures coming sir. I enjoy reading and sharing your adventures with my family. Your adventures are my dreams of retirement. Safe travels.
Great photos, thanks for sharing.