Snowy Owl East of Calgary

Snowy Owl East of Calgary

I love these birds! They are so incredibly beautiful and I really get excited every time I find one. I’ve been lucky enough to find two this year, and also lucky enough that they both allowed me to make a few portraits!

Snowy Owl’s are considered to be very common on the Prairies east of Calgary, and there are reports of them almost daily during the winter months. But that certainly doesn’t mean that they are easy to find. I’ve actually seen very few in the wild yet I look for them every time I’m out and about on the country roads.

Snowy Owl East of Calgary

My First Snowy Owl of the Season

Perching Snowy Owl

I stopped to make a few images of a really great sunset tonight, with a couple of grain bins in a massive Prairie field. It was very beautiful and I managed to catch the indigo sky rising up out of the horizon while the pink glow remained above it. It was one of those magical skies that you really have to visit the Prairies to see.

While I walked back to my truck when I realized that I had parked underneath a beautiful Snowy Owl perching on a power pole. I’ve spent many hours searching for these elusive birds over the last couple of winters and have only rarely seen them. This one wasn’t very happy to have me there, but it must not have minded too much or it would have flown away when I first arrived. I can’t believe I didn’t see it when I first pulled up, and it’s even more amazing that it just stayed there and ignored me. I got to watch it and make images for several minutes before it got too dark. I’m still excited about it several hours later!

Perching Snowy Owl

Grain Bins at Sunset

Grain Bins at Sunset

Irrigation Pivot at Sunset