Another great gray owl

[alloutdoors]

A friend and I made the trip to New Hampshire on Sunday to see a great gray that has been reported there for the past couple of weeks. We got there around 9:30 and observed the owl perched about two feet off the ground against a hedgerow which it was using as a wind break. Temperatures throughout the morning were in the single digits, with a 20+ MPH wind out of the NW. We took a break for lunch and came back to the owl around 1:30 in the afternoon. The shooting conditions were terrible during the midday hours so we mostly just hung around and watched the rest of the people watching the owl. A couple of families with young children came by at different times so I placed my tripod and camera down low where the kids could look through the viewfinder and watch the owl on live view since at that point the owl was in the shade and was rather cryptic against the brush. I think it was around 3:30 or 4:00 when the owl finally left it's perch and began to move around the field hunting. Over the next 3 hours or so it gave us a number of different looks on a variety of perches as well as some pretty good flight opportunities, and I got to see it take at least two voles during that time. The forecast had been for clouds to move in during the afternoon but we were blessed with clear bluebird skies all day as well as a beautiful sunset and gorgeous light in the evening.

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In addition to fence posts, the owl took advantage of the odd unattended tripod for a makeshift perch a couple of times. The day before we were there it also decided to land on a woman's head (she was wearing a jacket with the hood up). Amazingly she kept her cool and remained still, and the owl spent two minutes surveying the field from atop her head. You can see what that looked like here (not my photo, obviously): https://flic.kr/p/Shjuxu

[coonhunter]

They are such great pictures, and thanks for giving the link to the other shots of the owl on her head. It really gives a good perspective on how big they are.

 

[bugsNbows]

Great pics!

[wooly]

Awesome once again!

The last shot looks like he stopped by the studio for a portrait.

Doesn't get much better than that!

[Curmudgeon]

Thanks for posting these. Kyle sent me a shot, apparently the same bird. Wonderful creatures. I spent some time trying to find them in Yellowstone in 94 but came up short. Eventually a trip to Amherst Island turned up a bunch. 

[grampy]

Stunning pictures! Thanks for sharing!

[alloutdoors]

Thanks everyone, always happy to share.

 

11 hours ago, Curmudgeon said:

Thanks for posting these. Kyle sent me a shot, apparently the same bird. Wonderful creatures. I spent some time trying to find them in Yellowstone in 94 but came up short. Eventually a trip to Amherst Island turned up a bunch. 

I was letting him use my backup camera, he was pretty happy. He got some nice shots, on one sequence of flight shots where I had the owl going right to left he just happened to be in position where it flew straight at him. He got a couple great head on shots.

 

[Curmudgeon]

 

12 hours ago, alloutdoors said:

Thanks everyone, always happy to share.

 

I was letting him use my backup camera, he was pretty happy. He got some nice shots, on one sequence of flight shots where I had the owl going right to left he just happened to be in position where it flew straight at him. He got a couple great head on shots.

 

Great. I think he is joining me today at Davis State Park to count migrating golden eagles. I'll probably hear all about it.