I had only ever seen two Great Gray Owls before so naturally I was hoping to observe this beautiful bird. Barb and I drove across the city to get to the location, arriving in the early afternoon.
We arrived, and sure enough, there was the owl, crouched down on the snow in the middle of the field! We had barely exited the cars when it flew towards us, alighting on a shrub not much higher than eye level.
It was one of those perfect moments for photography. The lighting was ideal, the owl was the perfect distance from us for frame-filling images, there was a nice smooth background, and the falling snow added a wintry touch.
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| Great Gray Owl - Brookin |
In this particular situation the images were mostly gray, making the yellow eyes and bill of the owl stand out even more.
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| Great Gray Owl - Brookin |
The owl was constantly on alert for rodent prey items, and it swiveled its head back and forth. It was somewhat of a challenge to take a photo with the owl looking right back at me.
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| Great Gray Owl - Brookin |
Needless to say it was a pretty awesome experience being so close to a Great Gray Owl in perfect photography conditions. Being very close to the town of Whitby as well as surrounded by 30+ onlookers, birders, and photographers took away from the experience a little bit. Still, it was an awesome encounter with a really cool species.
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| Great Gray Owl - Brookin |
Hopefully this summer I am able to cross paths with a Great Gray somewhere in northern Ontario, maybe on the edge of a bog surrounded by pristine boreal forest...
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| Great Gray Owl - Brookin |
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| Great Gray Owl - Brookin |
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| Great Gray Owl - Brookin |
14 comments:
Absolutely stunning!!
What you did not drive Dave to see his nemesis?
Stunning photos, Josh. Must have been an awesome experience. I'd love to see one of these in the wild someday, which will likely require a trip to Michigan's U.P. Again, congrats and awesome shots!
Magnificent !
Lovely series of photos. Greetings from Montreal.
Haha. I offered but I guess he had other priorities that day!
Thanks Nick. Good luck if you make it up north for a GGOW hunt.
Thanks Marianne. By the way, congrats on seeing all the great birds in the Pelee area lately! (Yellow-headed and Brewer's Blackbirds, Short-eared Owl, etc)
Thanks Roxane. I hope your Red-belied Woodpecker is surviving the cold temperatures...
Thanks Linda!
Unfortunately there is a "photog" who is BAITING the bird!
This is the kind of happening that destroys nature for the lure of the photo dollar.
Ministry has been notified!
As much as I am not a big fan of the baiting of owls for reasons I can't really articulate well (basically, I feel like it cheapens the whole experience, for what that's worth), I have to ask - how does it destroy nature? Sure, there are "animal welfare" issues that arise when live mice are bought purely for the purpose of getting thrown towards a hungry owl (though that is a whole other argument). And, if the photographer baits the owl near a busy road, or trespasses on someone's property, I see the problem with that. And of course, there is the argument that an owl which is baited regularly becomes accustomed to that and "forgets" how to find its own food source, though I haven't read any evidence towards that (mainly due to lack of effort to look for evidence because I don't really care about the issue very much). But I fail to see how someone who occasionally baits a wild owl, without trespassing, and without doing it frequently or near a busy road, is any different than someone who keeps a bird feeder in their yard. Mind you, when I saw the GGOW there was no baiting taking place so I can't really comment on what you observed because I wasn't there.
He's a survivor… he's still here today. He chose the worst possible winter to stay in Cochrane District. We're stuck in a never-ending cold spell !
Stunning Images, you must have been so thrilled to capture these :) I would love to photograph this one myself as I have never seen one before. Do you you know if this Gray is still in this area?
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