Another Snowy Owl post

What a good day after 3 crap days of hunting for this bird.

We've known she's been around for weeks, see her nearly everyday but from 300+ yards away. We see her hunting in all directions, but never close enough to get a decent shot. She's a really nice big female

Today we earned her trust, we've been there so much she wasn't worried about us being within 50 yards.

I'll set the scene a bit, we were sitting on a snowmobile trail, right out in the open but near a mass of voles. Incredible mess but thats another story. Anyhow we weren't convinced she'd even look twice at these critters running around in the carrot stubs, she was at least 350+ yards away. She wasn't missing a thing, she saw all.

Anyhow here she is. And I will be out until she heads north...amazing bird.

Canon 1D Mark IV
600mm f/7.1
ISO 500-640
SS 1/2000th

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Love That Bird!!!!

These are all wonderful shots of this beautiful owl.

Hi Vince, awesome shots. They are an incredible bird to just watch, let alone photograph. Hope to see you again soon.

Thanks folks!

And yeah Wayne expect us to come around sometime again this winter! Would love to head to Ottawa proper and find some Northern Hawk Owls

That last shot, marvelous!!!!

Thanks bcd01, I'd have punched a nun for that full frame.

Love the extended claws and the look back. Wow.

very nice shots Vince

great set, but no2 is a fantastic image!

Thanks folks

Thats AWESOME, The adult female sure looks different than the juvi, lot more white on the head and breastplate maybe a growing male? Dunno though Iam no Snowy pro. Very cool captures .

vmaidens@gmail.com wrote in post #11837553
Thanks folks!

And yeah Wayne expect us to come around sometime again this winter! Would love to head to Ottawa proper and find some Northern Hawk Owls

There is one on Amherst Island, I am thinking of going to check him out tomorrow

Thanks Andrew, its a huge bird so we're 90% sure its a female. One of the birders who showed up figures she's 5-6 years old, really healthy. She's pretty territorial it seems too, as soon as she arrived on the field the 20 or so Rough Legg's picked up and left.

The only bird that wasn't intimidated by her was a Northern Shrike, we saw it get 5 voles within 20 mins.

Wayne Wood wrote in post #11840205
There is one on Amherst Island, I am thinking of going to check him out tomorrow

Would be interested to find out, can't go this weekend coming but maybe the week after if I can swing it.