A phantom hunting in the snow
The snowstorm and the cold accompanying it were considerable the morning I watched this Great gray owl hunting west of Bragg Creek. Neither one impeded her focus or her ability to hunt. She caught three mice as they scurried beneath the snow. The sharp eyes guiding her to great effect. The descent above started with her perched in a branch. Her head cocked at subtly different angles to range in before she flew.
This strike proved unsuccessful as it appeared she came close but came away with nothing. She looked at me for a second and then lifted off to alight on a post holding up the fence I was leaning against.
A short regroup was over after a few minutes when she dove with her back to me, grabbed and returned with a mouse.
That was swallowed quickly and she then retreated to another branch on the tree line behind the fence. She flew along the forest’s edge between a couple of spots. Which gave me a few good opportunities to shoot her in flight.
She snagged another unfortunate creature as we approached noon and I left soon after that.
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Forest flights in a snowstorm
A snowstorm hit Bragg Creek last weekend quickly draping the area in white and pushing the temperature way down. I caught sight of this owl along a familiar stretch of open forest divided by a gravel road.
It was a steep challenge keeping sharp focus as she flew through the trees and with the heavy snowfall but I had a great hour or so watching her and trying to keep up. I ended up with many in-focus tree, out-of-focus owl shots but when it worked out the other way around there were some interesting images.
When I did return to my car, it did take a few minutes for my fingers to thaw – that’s always painful but quickly forgotten.
She was very successful during the time I watched her. Three field mice were the first courses for breakfast from five silent descents into the tall grass. When time allows, I will share a few of those action shots in another photo story here.
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Barred owl: a little curious, a lot shy
It was May of this year when I saw my first Barred owl in Bragg Creek. I’ve lived here for ten years and spent a lot of time in the forests so it was a real thrill to find a new (to me) species in the area. In late October, another one was waiting for me as I was walking in the woods along the edge of Kananaskis Country. This time, the owl watched me intently for a few seconds, scanned the ground for prey for a few more and then repeated that for a couple of minutes while I watched and snapped a few images. Eventually the owl flew a short distance away but they blend into this type of forest so well that I lost sight with the next glide that followed. A beautiful creature.
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An owl on the other side
On the other side of the road, this Great gray owl continued hunting after it flew across. She left the open forest for the denser evergreens on the southern approach which provided a completely different look from the images that I shared yesterday.
She flew between a couple of posts before gliding between a couple of trees. I was lucky to be in position for some great opportunities.
The owl flew into the middle of this large tree, beside the trunk, and I thought she might choose to rest there for a while. She did for a few minutes, but soon grew restless and began scanning the ground for activity. She turned around, saw something and then shot out of the tree. I lost sight of her almost right away but heard a lot of squawking and commotion before things went quiet again. I assume the owl struck successfully but did not go into the woods to check – either way the cycle of hunter and hunted continued with one coming out successfully.
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In the presence of greatness
A couple of weeks ago snow had fallen overnight and I went into Bragg Creek to see what I might be able to photograph in this prelude to winter. I was thrilled when I spied this Great gray owl flying along an old fence line. She looked amazing against the lightly blanketed grass and trees. Her colouring made her appear as a piece of the forest in motion.
This owl has a well-defined hunting ground that I’m familiar with. That said, I hadn’t seen her in over a month until the week before this encounter. That time it was dusk and my camera and I both had trouble focusing as she flew past. She stared at me for several wing beats which looked fantastic. However the images were soft and I came away disappointed for missing some great shots. Persistence paid off, as it often does given enough of it, and she was even more engaging this time around.
Keeping an eye on my whereabouts was a minor distraction to her hunting and she made three separate attacks over the half hour that I watched her. One was successful and a fourth, when she disappeared into the deeper woods, seemed successful given what I could hear.
She hunted on the north side of the gravel road for most of the time I was there. This forest is open with relatively wide spacing between the mostly Aspen trees and tall grass filling in between. On the south side, the forest is dominated by evergreens and is much denser. I will share some more images of this owl from the other side tomorrow.
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A gallery of Great gray owls
(Please click on either image to open the Great gray owl gallery)
It has been a while since I put together a gallery of animal images so I worked on one last night. I chose Great gray owls as they are among my very favourite birds to watch and to photograph. They have a balance of power and intelligence that always impresses me. All of these images are from the Bragg Creek area, either in West Bragg or on the edge of Kananaskis that shares a border with it. I have been photographing some of these owls for six years or more although most of the early images didn’t make this cut for various user operator (me!) issues. For the 35 images that did, it was fun to look at the scenes I’ve been able to see them hunt, perch and fly in.
Looking back over these I feel very fortunate to be able to have spent so much time with these beautiful raptors. At some times of the year, I see them rarely but I enjoy knowing that they are still there. When are paths do cross, it never fails to be a continuation of my education about Great grays. I still have a lot to learn… lucky me!
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Tail slapping at Wild Rose
A couple of weeks ago I spent the morning at the Wild Rose ponds in West Bragg. I watched this beaver swimming on the far side of the pond for several minutes before turning away to watch the sunrise. I realized she had kept coming my way when I heard the first tail slap on the water. She was about 15 metres away and had set a course parallel to me and the shoreline. I took this photograph of her as she raised her tail for another slap. She wasn’t too happy with my presence so I moved along after one more slap.
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A Great gray owl in Redwood Meadows
I’ve lived in Redwood Meadows for over 9 years and have never photographed a Great gray owl in the daylight here. A little while ago, I was driving back from Bragg Creek and spotted this owl perched on a fence post. I watched him in the sun for a little while before he flew. Then he quickly moved from post to post for a couple of minutes, with short breaks between flights.
Eventually he flew to the top of a nearby tree for a better view. That did not last long and he flew directly in front of me as he crossed the road (the first photo int his story) and flew into the heavier forest on the edge of the Tsuu T’ina Rodeo and Pow Wow grounds.
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A forest hunter
On a warm summer evening, down a country road leading nowhere, I found a pair of Great gray owls. One was hunting actively near where I set up while the other was perched deeper in the forest.
The shadows lengthened and I hoped for a special moment before the sun slipped below the ridge to the west. She flew over me and I thought that would be the end of the encounter as she flew into the trees. Instead, she alighted on this small branch and stared intently at a couple of spots in the grass. Shortly after she dove headlong into one of those spots and disappeared.
Several seconds ticked by and then she leaped into the air – with a field mouse secured in her beak. It was my good fortune that she flew directly towards me as she gained altitude before banking to her left and heading further uphill towards her nest. The first image and the ones directly below are the series as she flew through the trees towards me.
These were a series of moments well beyond what I was even hoping for.
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A brief visit with a Barred owl
A friend and I spied this owl while on a short drive to scout out locations for a photo shoot. This is my tenth year living in the Bragg Creek area and this was the first Barred owl that I have seen here. It was the first time I have seen one in the wild anywhere for that matter. It is an understatement to say I was excited! The dark eyes are so striking compared to my familiarity with the glowing yellow eyes of the Great gray, Great horned and Snowy owls which I photograph throughout the year.
The owl was perched in plain sight – the fast approaching dusk had dimmed the daylight which suited this mostly nocturnal hunter. That made a fast shutter speed a challenge but that was a very minor challenge. She flew from the post to a branch a couple of metres above the long grass edging the road. Her head swivelled and angled as she searched for dinner. Within a couple of minutes, she locked in and made a dive headlong into the greenery. One dive, one strike and one kill.
From down in the grass she shifted the field mouse to her beak and then flew up and in front of us, heading into a stand of trees on a small ridge.
I lost her in the forest and the gloom but look forward to a follow-up encounter whenever it suits her.
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Great gray owl on frost and in gold
Last week’s dropping mercury and precipitation allowed the fields around Bragg Creek to be encased in frost on the weekend. I spent the morning watching birds of all sizes waking up – with most waiting for the sun to warm things up a bit. This Great gray owl was more interested in breakfast and I watched him hunt for a couple of hours taking his catches back to the nest hidden somewhere in the forest nearby. These images of the owl just lifting off the grass with a field mouse in its beak really captured the tone of the morning – frosted grass, shafts of golden light, a spectacular bird in flight. It was another wonderful morning spent in awe of the natural world.
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Wild Rose’s Common Loons
There have been three Common loons that spend each spring on Wild Rose lake in Bragg Creek. Last weekend, I found them for the first time this year and watched them for swim, dive, call and chase each other around for an hour. The morning light on the water was beautiful and made a great backdrop for these lovely birds.
Loons need a long stretch of water to use as a runway to get airborne. When this trio decided to leave, two flew along the far end of the lake away from me. The third, fortunately for me, flew towards me and lifted into the air right beside me.
