Short Flight Encounter

photo courtesy of Dennis Swayze

Shooting from the truck window does have it’s disadvantages as was the case here.
Being restricted to the amount of movement required to track the owl which only provided a short burst of shots.
Never the less an enjoyable encounter with this Snowy…take note of those talons.
Don’t think I would want to mess around with those…just sayin.

Owling…it’s Simple

photo courtesy of Dennis Swayze

Number of factors come into play when attempting to photograph the Great White Owls from the North.

– first off you start by putting in many hours and driving many miles in order to succeed.
– you would need to search out locations with habitat that may provide a good food source.
– areas with signs, posts and poles are something the owls use to perch on and hunt from.
– understanding not every owl is cooperative and many fly off before getting a chance to lift the camera.
– direction of approach…paying attention to location of the sun and taking into account any wind
– patience…slow and easy is the best bet and can take minutes or hours.
– attempting to anticipate what may occur…sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
– it’s just that simple.

White Visitor From the North

photo courtesy of Dennis Swayze

Some owls tend to be more approachable than others…as was the case on a recent visit out-n-about.
Of coarse it’s a Snowy and by size and the very dark black markings I would say a juvenile female.

I’m no expert but I’m going with that.

After spending a short amount of time with her she began to move around a bit on the pole.
She seemed focused on something that I’ll assume was a possible meal ?

At this point it was easy to tell that she was about to take flight when she went into the crouched position.