Just when here in Manitoba we thought we would be having an early spring…Old Man Winter gave us a reality check and dumped 20 plus cm of heavy wet snow.
Thanks Mother Nature we do need the extra moisture.
It was pretty easy to think of Winter Owls while taking a break from shoveling.
Deep Snow and Great Grays goes together like Apple Pie and Ice Cream.
The Owl theme continues only this time a Barred Owl.
Similar in appearance to a Great Gray with both having a disk face and the Barred a little smaller in size.
The most notable difference would be their Black Eyes.
This year there has been numerous reports of Barred Owls being sighted and photographed within the Winnipeg.
Hopefully they will continue to thrive within the city.
It’s not uncommon for me to be on the road at 6:30 am in the Dead of Winter depending on where I’m headed in search of Owls. This means while most are still sound asleep I’m up putting equipment together at 5:00.
Then packing a lunch and snacks that will tide me over for the day…since it’s highly unlikely you would find a Tim’s on the Back Country Roads I travel.
Sipping some coffee while munching on a granola bar or even chomping on a pepperoni stick is a great way to pass the time while waiting for the action to unfold when an owl is located.
Wait times can range from a few minutes to a couple hours or even longer. There has been the occasional time where an owl had no interest in giving me the action I was hoping for.
Not the case with this owl…after an attempt for a meal the Great Gray makes its way through the scrub brush to a better vantage point to continue the endless search for food.