Sunlight on distant peaks

My alarms were set for 5:30 six mornings ago, on 28 February 2016, and I was full of hope that for once, I would actually get out of the house good and early. I have such a problem getting myself out very early when I go off for a drive by myself. I think it was something like 8:30 am by the time I dragged myself off the computer and out the front door. To my horror, I discovered that my car door locks had frozen shut and my car was totally covered in a thick layer of extremely stubborn ice, that took me a long time to remove. Half an hour or so later, I was finally ready to start on my trip.

It had been quite a long time since I saw my last Great Gray Owl. Some of my most recent sightings had been one that was in Fish Creek Park in Calgary for a while and my last photos of it were taken on 18 February 2014. There was also a Great Gray at Griffith Woods, Calgary, and some of my photos were taken on 10 February 2014. Saw another owl on our May Species Count out of the city on 25 May 2014. Many of my 'best' sightings and photos of Great Grays were taken NW of Calgary, the last dates being 28 March 2013 and 5 May 2013. After 25 May 2014 .... nothing! So, seeing one on 28 February was such a thrill. No matter how many times I see one of these owls and no matter how many hundreds/thousands of photos I've taken, each owl is as exciting as the very first.

When I first reached my approximate destination, I could see two or three cars way down the road, pulled over at the edge of the road. Often a good sign : ) Sure enough, friends had found an owl, It was on a distant barbed-wire fence post at first, then dove into the snow to try and catch a Meadow Vole. It then flew off into the trees with it and didn't return. After a while, I drove some of the other roads in the area and later drove back to where the owl had been. Amazingly, it was in a distant tree, from where it hunted, moving to a different tree each time it made an unsuccesful dive. Eventually, it did catch a Vole. I left after a while, feeling that it was time to leave the owl 'in peace', and also knowing it was time for me to make the long drive home - approximately 246 km round trip.

The weather wasn't too bad, with sun and cloud in the forecast. Quite chilly, though, and I needed gloves. The clouds were quite spectacular - I always love to see the distant mountains in brightness, sandwiched between dark ground below and dark cloud above. A good thing I went when I did, as we had fog, a bit of snow and hoarfrost and very slick roads overnight till the following afternoon, apparently. There were 234 reported accidents in the city during those hours, none with life-threatening injuries. So glad I didn't have to go out in such conditions.