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
Another Snowy
Dear Friends, been out chasing the birdies that have stayed this winter or have arrived from the north, NW Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota is their south for the winter. This Snowy Owl is perched on a light stand near the Walmart in Superior but one of my friends, doesn’t like owls on a post, so i edited it out 🙂 . I love the eyes. til Tomrrow MJ
My First Hawk Owl
Dear Friends, this friendly Hawk Owl was perched over a nearby gravel pit and Jim slammed on the brakes and i slammed on the camera, this was the result. The angle was very steep shooting out of the car window, but he was between the two high wires, guess it was my lucky day. This was my first Hawk Owl and was only a couple of miles from my home, enjoy til Tomorrow MJ
Owlets have flown
Friends, the dilemma, two images, one with open eyes on mama bird and the other with open eyes on the owlet, solution: combine two images into one for an official portrait of both birds, hope you like my artistic treatment, as of yesterday, both owlets have left the nest and are roosting in nearby sites, til Tomorrow MJ
One more Owl
Friends, this is a little better image of mama owl and the baby is out of the nest hole and sitting on the ledge with her on Friday when i again visited the city owl. Above is a portrait of the baby owl, as he discovers that there are people and cameras looking at him, til Tomorrow MJ
Owl Portrait
Friends, this is a little closer view of the mama owl watching over her chicks, i cropped it from the original view and did not get closer physically. I wanted to see the eyes and the feathering on her breast up a little closer, til Tomorrow MJ
Great Horned Owl
Friends, this great horned owl is keeping a sleepy watch over her young in the nest. I shot 200 images on this shoot, but only one image had both subjects with open eyes, and mother only had a half opened eye, but you get what you get, considering myself very lucky this morning, 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
MJ Springett 