Blog Archives
Great Gray in the Snow
Dear Friends, this great gray owl is from my archive, the same owl as yesterday’s post, taken after he landed ten feet away and asked for a mouse, but i have no mice so off he went after giving me a few frames of pleasure, i sure love the owls, til Tomorrow MJ
Great Gray in Flight
Dear Friends, this photo is the first of the nature Challenge issued by Melissa Anderson, from my archive but hope to see some this winter, this owl flew right at me and landed in the snow about ten feet from me, i think he thought i had a mouse for him, but nothing in my pockets, til Tomorrow MJ
More Gray Owls
Friends, this Great Gray Owl was one of the many who migrated south in the winter of 2005-2006, they came south looking for food and such a migration is called an irruption. They say the owls are irrupting again this winter and we did see two on the way to Two Harbors Minnesota on Saturday. It was a sunny day so the yellow eyes did not show on our recent images, this owl and the one in the image below were taken on overcast days, so the yellow eyes were visible and the owls were very photogenic. til Tomorrow MJ
The rest of the story
Friends, this Great Gray Owl flew out of a tree directly at me, at the last second he banked away and this image above was the result. I think I ducked and he landed in the snow beside me, the image below was taken as he rested in the snow watching me, I wonder if he had been fed by the banders that in 2005 were roaming the bogs of Minnesota trying to determine the state of health of these birds that irrupted to the south. Maybe he was expecting me to produce a mouse or other small rodent. After a few seconds sitting on the ground, he flew back to his tree. Definitely a close encounter of the wildest kind, til Tomorrow MJ
Great Gray Flight
Friends, yesterday i showed you some Great Gray Owls from 2005, yesterday we saw two on our way to Ely Minnesota to visit the International Wolf Center. Yesterdays birds were facing the sunrise so their eyes were very squinty, but this one flew right at me on a cloudy day, so yellow eyes were dramatic. She flew straight at me and landed in the snow a few feet away, look at me for a few seconds while i leaned on the motordrive, then she flew back to her tree. til Tomorrow the rest of the story MJ
Winter Owls
Friends, this is a Great Gray Owl from the land north of here, they sometimes migrate to the Sax Zim bog in the winter. This image was captured in 2005 when we had an irruption of owls from Canada to the northern Minnesota/Wisconsin area. I am processing with Photoshop with techniques that i have been practicing lately, blurring the background and sharpening the foreground, gives this bird a better isolation as the subject of the photo. I love their bright yellow eyes that appear a bit cross eyed, maybe i was too close for the bird to focus correctly, hence crossed eyes. Great Grays are large by bird standards but they are mostly feathers. The owl in the image below is all fluffed up against the -20 degree day. A few owls migrate every year, but 2005 was special. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 