Saturday was a ugly day, and all the owls … both our locals and irruption migrants … decided they needed to hunt DURING the storm. For Great Gray Owls which catch prey by hearing mice and voles running beneath the snow, I can’t believe they had much success. It goes to show, hunger is a great motivator. Make certain you watch the videos. The snow was coming down at an amazing rate (Video links for email subscribers: Owl#1 | Owl#2 | Owl#3). I will be following this post up with a “morning after the storm” addition to this blog!

Finally here are some still images taken during storm. I actually hung out at home till the worst of the storm hit. Thankfully, none of these owls were over 10 miles from my home. I just slowed down my driving and took my time. I was actually somewhat amazed I found any owls given the poor visibility. Luck (and some skill) definitely played a role.

Just prior to the storm … unlike us, owls don’t get to use weather apps to learn that a storm in coming

Great Gray Owls during the storm. The last owl was in a ravine, which I thought was smart, but then it flew up to a non protected area. In the fourth image, the owl is shaking show off its head … thus the bit of blur.

Flight shots. Quite frankly I am amazed I not only found these owls, but managed to photograph them in flight.