Great gray owl

[alloutdoors]

Drove up to Massena yesterday looking for the great gray owls that have been spotted there recently. Located one just before the storm set in. Photographed it for two hours then headed home. It's a four hour drive in good weather but yesterday it took six.

[jman22]

Incredible pictures!

[Pygmy]

Beautiful shots, Pilgrim  !!

I have only seen a great grey once, and that was in Alaska..

[Steuben Jerry]

Great photos!

[grampy]

Absolutely stunning pictures! Owls are just about my favorite birds to watch. I've never seen a grey in my neck of the woods.

[HuntLI85]

Incredible pictures. Owls have become my favorite birds.

[Lawdwaz]

I'd say the trip was a success. Well done!

[Curmudgeon]

Love your photos and GG owls.

[Paula]

Absolutely beautiful 

[alloutdoors]

Thanks everyone, glad you enjoyed them.

 

5 hours ago, Curmudgeon said:

Love your photos and GG owls.

Thanks Tom. It looks like Kyle got some really nice eagle shots at your place this weekend from what I've seen so far. Wanted to get him up to see the owl but he had to work. May try again in a couple weeks if they are still hanging around.

 

[genesee_mohican]

Great photo's of a bird most never get to see. You captured the moment and it's the next best thing to being there. Thanks for sharing.

[Doc]

That must be quite a camera/lens system that you have there. The pictures are top-rate.

[coonhunter]

Thanks for sharing these pictures. I have never seen one in the wild before. Also, congratulations on taking the chance with weather on its way, and having it pay off so well. 

[Zag]

You hit the jackpot with those pics, thanks for sharing

[growalot]

EXCELLANT! Thank you for sharing you incredible talent.

[alloutdoors]

Thanks everyone! Here's a couple more owl pics.

 

And this is what the drive home was like.

There's a road under there somewhere. I think.

This is more or less what the first three and a half hours of the drive looked like.

[growalot]

Out of likes...just awesome...

[Doc]

Something went terribly wrong in the design of that bird. The face looks like somebody swatted him in the face with a shovel. He's about as aero-dynamic looking as a bumble bee. But I guess he has learned to cope......lol.

[First-light]

Wow nice pictures!

 

[ny hunter]

Amazing pics!!!!!

[wooly]

5 hours ago, Doc said:

Something went terribly wrong in the design of that bird. The face looks like somebody swatted him in the face with a shovel. He's about as aero-dynamic looking as a bumble bee. But I guess he has learned to cope......lol.

Excellent shots AO!

I see a lot of folks have made the trip with their cameras to check this guy out. Was there a crowd when you went?

 

Doc- I believe the flat face is a design that aides them with hearing, not speed. or flight.

The ears sit just on the front side of that facial ring and behind that are a coarser feather that funnels sound to the ears.

Just something I read somewhere before. Don't want anyone to think I'm an "owl-ologist" or anything like that,lol

 

[NFA-ADK]

Epic pics!  Simply amazing shots, thanks so much for sharing!  Awesome!

[alloutdoors]

Wooly there were probably 15-20 people there that morning. I had been down searching the east end of the island and was coming back along the main road when I found the group observing the owl in a spot that I had already passed through several times. It had probably stayed on its roost until about 10 that morning before flying out near the road. I hopped out and grabbed the one shot above that doesn't have any snow falling in it. Then I walked back to my vehicle to put on my heavy jacket, gloves, etc. Of course, as soon as I did that the owl flew down on something and then took off across a field. A lot of people left at that point, and even more started to leave when the snow started falling. By the time the owl flew back near the road 10-15 minutes later there were probably only 8-10 people left. As the snow picked up more people left until it was just one other photographer and myself. We had the owl to ourselves for about 2 hours before I decided the smart play was to get on the road. I've been thinking about going back up one more time, but the warm weather, lack of snow, and realizing I'll have to deal with a huge crowd has been dampening my enthusiasm. 

You are pretty much spot on regarding the facial disk as well. Great grays have the largest facial disk of any raptor species, it's like a big radar dish that they use to funnel sounds to their ears, and they can control the feathers to manipulate the shape of the disk for maximum effect. They can reportedly hear a vole moving under two feet of snow from roughly 100 yards away. They wait, listen, and then fly silently toward whatever prey they have detected. They may hover briefly as they hone in on their target and will then plunge through the snow on whatever unsuspecting small mammal they are after. Like other owls they also have asymmetrical ear placement, as seen here, which helps them pinpoint where sounds are coming from (due to the slight difference in timing that it takes a sound to reach each ear). If peregrine falcons are the fighter jets of the bird world, these guys are the stealth bomber, but in addition to being the bomber they are the laser-guided smart bomb as well.

[TACC]

Wow
I have never seen an owl like that.

Great photos
Thanks for sharing and taking the time, definitely a long trip

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