I found this great horned owl on December 20th.  She was perched a couple of meters off the ground in a stand of trees along the edge of a farm east of Langdon on Alberta’s prairie.  It was just before noon and the day was cool but not frigid.  The warm sun was lovely as I walked from the range road to a position with a better view of the owl.  I was excited to photograph the bird – especially once I had the sunlight at my back and I could catch the glow of the golden eyes.

She watched the ground intently at times and tracked any ravens that flew overhead.  I settled in on a mound and waited for the bird to launch. Despite a couple of shakes and repositions early on, the bird didn’t fly then and soon the eyes were shutting for increasingly long intervals.

For four hours I waited before the owl jumped into the air.  I was in a great position but was chagrined when she flew away from me.  Hope returned when she alighted on a branch 20 meters away and turned back towards me.  A few minutes along and the excitement returned.  This time the flight path was towards me and she flew beside me on her way to another line of trees towering over a snow-covered field.  This time afforded me a great angle on the owl.