Great Gray Owl #1
Great Gray Owl #2
Great Gray Owl, watching and listening
Great Gray Owl hunting
Great Gray Owl, highly zoomed
Great Gray Owl on the hunt
Far, far away
Great Gray Owl
Great Gray Owl
Great Gray Owl - from the archives
Great Gray Owl - from the archives
Great Gray Owl - from my archives
Great Gray Owl, focused
Great Gray Owl from 2013
Great Gray Owl in early morning sunlight
Poor quality, but of interest
Ever watchful
Shooting in the rain
Waiting for me
Predator with prey
Great Gray Owl on a rainy day
Hope he's one of the lucky ones
Great Gray Owl in late-morning sun
Way down the fence line
I'm baaack ...
Made my day : )
Great Gray Owl in a field of Dandelions
One of yesterday's two Great Gray Owls
On the fence
Successful hunting
Watching closely
An over-the-shoulder glance
Great Gray Owl, side profile
Great Gray Owl from 2012
A quick shot just in time
Without its camouflage
Great Gray Owlet from June 2012
Missed opportunity
Great Gray Owl, focused
Great Gray Owl - breathtaking
A close landing
Surveying its territory
Perched on a broken tree trunk
Got my eyes on you
One of a pair
A quick glance
Hunting for Meadow Voles
Natural beauty
Great Gray Owl with its catch
Well camouflaged, except for those eyes
A view through the bushes
Yesterday's treat - a Great Gray Owl
Great Gray Owl in early morning light
Great Gray Owl in early morning light
Time to catch supper
A highlight of our May Species Count
Visiting the city
Fully focused
Posed
Listening
Visitor to the city
Out in the open
Looking for lunch
Close encounter of the owl kind
An accidental shot
Concentration
Waiting patiently
A good vantage point
Great while it lasted
Disappearing act
A quick glance
I think I hear something
Yesterday's treat
Patiently watching
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Yesterday's treat!
If I remember correctly, the last Great Gray Owl I saw was on 1 June 2016, so it had been roughly a year since then - till yesterday! What a great day our group of four people had, taking part in the annual May Species Count, 2017. We travelled in just one car, which worked out well. On the 2016 May Species Count, we had been unable to find a Great Gray, but I drove back to the area two days later, and found two of them. No matter how many times I see one of these owls and no matter how many hundreds/thousands of photos I've taken of them, each owl is just as exciting as the very first.
The owl in this photo was on a fence post when we first saw it. As is usually the case with these owls, it was focused on finding a Meadow Vole for a snack and in fact did catch one while I was watching. It moved to a few different fence posts in its search. Once it had caught its prey, it ate it there, down on the ground - with its back to us, of course. I was kind of hoping it would fly back up to the fence with it, but it didn't.
While I was taking photos, various people came along the road, a couple in cars, but most were cyclists out for a long ride on such a beautiful, sunny day. The owl basically ignored everyone, giving just a quick glance at us every once in a while. Their concentration never fails to leave me in awe.
"Although the Great Gray Owl is the tallest American owl with the largest wingspan, it is just a ball of feathers. It preys on small mammals and has relatively small feet. Both the Great Horned and Snowy owls weigh half again as much, and have larger feet and talons. The oldest recorded Great Gray Owl was at least 18 years, 9 months old and lived in Alberta." From AllABoutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Gray_Owl/lifehistory
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Grey_Owl
I'm still waiting for the exact number of species we saw yesterday - somewhere around 75, I believe! Amazing, really. Three pairs of great eyes - plus me : ) Part of our Count covers some of my favourite roads, so it is not surprising that I enjoy it so much. Once the Count had finished, I drove a few of the roads again on my way home, mainly focusing on two pairs of Mountain Bluebirds that I had enjoyed watching last year. Needless to say, I went home feeling very happy after a long day of birding, and oh, so tired!
The owl in this photo was on a fence post when we first saw it. As is usually the case with these owls, it was focused on finding a Meadow Vole for a snack and in fact did catch one while I was watching. It moved to a few different fence posts in its search. Once it had caught its prey, it ate it there, down on the ground - with its back to us, of course. I was kind of hoping it would fly back up to the fence with it, but it didn't.
While I was taking photos, various people came along the road, a couple in cars, but most were cyclists out for a long ride on such a beautiful, sunny day. The owl basically ignored everyone, giving just a quick glance at us every once in a while. Their concentration never fails to leave me in awe.
"Although the Great Gray Owl is the tallest American owl with the largest wingspan, it is just a ball of feathers. It preys on small mammals and has relatively small feet. Both the Great Horned and Snowy owls weigh half again as much, and have larger feet and talons. The oldest recorded Great Gray Owl was at least 18 years, 9 months old and lived in Alberta." From AllABoutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Gray_Owl/lifehistory
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Grey_Owl
I'm still waiting for the exact number of species we saw yesterday - somewhere around 75, I believe! Amazing, really. Three pairs of great eyes - plus me : ) Part of our Count covers some of my favourite roads, so it is not surprising that I enjoy it so much. Once the Count had finished, I drove a few of the roads again on my way home, mainly focusing on two pairs of Mountain Bluebirds that I had enjoyed watching last year. Needless to say, I went home feeling very happy after a long day of birding, and oh, so tired!
autofantasia, , Yves Saulnier, Ian Wood have particularly liked this photo
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