I experienced the magic of Sax-Zim Bog this morning. For over an hour by myself while hiking along a remote road I watched a Great Gray Owl hunt. Not a single car drove by during this entire period, and at times … owl’s choice … the Great Gray Owl would fly over and perch on a tree less than 15 yards distant from me. Once I convinced the owl I would be silent, my presence was ignored. I even learned NOT to walk on the gravel, but rather hike on the grass next to the road’s edge as this method was much quieter. The owl taught me to walk in this manner. When my hiking shoes crunched on gravel the Great Gray gave me dirty looks! Remember, Great Grays hunt successfully by hearing and triangulating their prey.

Today was a perfect morning for owling. The forecast came through as expected … lighter winds and dark skies which encourages owls to hunt past sunrise. While the golden orb would have felt nice on my body during my hike, in that case it is unlikely I would have had the same experience. I hope you enjoy these images and videos … in total I took over 800 photographs this morning. Why so many you may ask? 1. It was dark, and I knew lots of images would be blurry. 2. Sixty minutes is a lot of hunting which needed to be captured!

• Like owls? Don’t forget you can download a free PDF copy of my new children’s picture book, Snowy’s Search for Color.

The photographs follow the four videos.

Great Gray Owl Eating Breakfast 1 (video link for email subscribers)

Great Gray Owl Eating Breakfast 2 (video link for email subscribers)

Great Gray Owl Hunting 1 (video link for email subscribers)

Great Gray Owl Hunting 2 (video link for email subscribers)

Sax-Zim Bog Great Gray Owl … Hunting & Eating

Sax-Zim Bog Great Gray Owl … Eating Breakfast

Sax-Zim Bog Great Gray Owl … Hunting

Sax-Zim Bog Great Gray Owl … Next to the Road