As promised when I found and watched a Great Gray Owl yesterday morning, I did go back out yesterday afternoon. Fortune was with me (and perhaps some owl habitat knowledge) and I found and watched a second Great Gray Owl starting its late afternoon hunt. Examine the sequence of photographs as they demonstrate how I took almost ten minutes to approach the owl. I let the bird get comfortable with my presence and learn to ignore me as I did not represent a threat. The zoom on my Sony’s lens is only 350 mm, which given it is a crop sensor APS-C camera means the 35 mm equivalent is 525 mm. Thus I am NOT utilizing a huge big lens while birding.
Location 1: Great Gray Owl in its Winter Wonderland!
Location 2: Moving a little closer to the owl
Location 3: Closer yet to the Great Gray Owl! (it ignores me to hunt)
A short video of the owl hunting (video link for email subscribers)
Listen as you watch the video. It is quiet in the forest. This helps the owl which never sees its prey and uses its hearing for the entire hunt!
Here is my final comment of this post … if you spend lots of time on remote snow covered roads, follow my example. I have keep a 30 inch Bow Saw in my Subaru. Yesterday the saw came in very handy and allowed me to clear the road of a large downed tree. The alternative would have been a 25 mile detour. Uff Dah!
By the way, the bow saw is an excellent recommendation. A chain saw would be too disruptive to a pristine area.
I really like the video. The owl’s head appears to be on a shaft, it turns so smoothly. Just how close did you approach the owl. I have great horned owls perch on a streetlamp on the corner of my yard. I go outside for better views when one or more is/are perched, but I only watch them from just out the door so I don’t cause them to leave. It’s about 25 yards from my door frame to the perch. And, since the owls perch on top of the lamp, even though it isn’t aimed up for light pollution concerns, the light is too much an obstacle for photographing.
I already get emails when you post daily.
Amazing! Thank you for sharing the beautiful photos and video.