A couple of days ago, I took a trip Northwest of Calgary in search of a Great Grey Owl population that has been reported to hang out in the area.
Normally these guys are very difficult to spot on account of a number of things that keep them at the top of the food chain. First of all, they are a matte grey with brown coloring on the wings and body, this makes them difficult to spot of they are still, and still they can be, outlasting even the most patient photo nerd.
Although they are one of the largest owls in the world, they can fly without even a whisper, moving through dense forest, banking and bobbing in an seductive float around trunks and over foliage. More Iceman then Maverick.
Spending time with a Great Grey Owl is truly a magical and humbling experience while I trod around the snow, albeit clumsy for a wild animal, I cant help but make my presence known. The owl looks at me in disgust with a still yellow stare, and decides that I do not matter either to its safety or hunting and goes back to listening for food.
The Great Grey will locate a speedy mouse in the tall grass by sound and then follows with an intense stare. This concentration can last for a few seconds or a few minutes and its prey cannot know what doom lurks above.
After two quick shuffles and a hop resembling the Time Warp, the phantom dives to the ground talons first in attempt for quick kill. This encounter produced a very low success rate.
If he does catch something, he will then shuffle the prey under his feet until dead, then eat it himself or bring it back to a nest. Either way you can get great bloody beak shots.
I stayed for a few minutes here but eventually left this one to hunt some more. I was grateful for a photogenic owl and an excellent sport.
And now for something completely different…Although not an expert hunter, but an expert at deification, I managed to get a cute shot of this Canada Goose.
Anyone who runs along the Bow River knows how hard it is to avoid the goose poop around this time of year.