Winter Quest, Part II
Well, it happened - faster and easier than I had anticipated. Saturday, December 29th I randomly decided to head to the lakeshore, about 30 miles north from home, in hopes of spotting an snowy owl. I quickly grabbed my camera, water and dog, Bruce and hopped into the car. We hit the road, hopeful but not optimistic - you see, I’ve been telling myself they’ve left the area for the year since they have not been spotted in 5 or so days, which is about when I began this quest.
Pheasants forever. Fujifilm X-S20 | 600mm | f5.6
Over the last few days visiting this location, I saw a red tail hawk along with various pheasants but I was never able to get a good picture of the pheasants (or the hawk). They were always too close to the road. Much to my surprise when I pull up to a stop sign, looking both ways before proceeding only to see two roosters hanging out in full visibility. I circled back, pulled over and grabbed my camera. I was able to capture a few great pictures with the above being my favorite.
Pheasants are really pretty birds, very unique and very clearly not native to North America. Regardless, seeing a few wild roosters is a neat experience.
Seeing these roosters by pure luck is a reminder to always be paying attention - I am confident I have missed a million unique opportunities over the years simply because I was not paying attention to my surroundings.
I pull into the park where the snowy owls are known to be seen. Generally, they like to perch along a break wall that has no human activity. I begin driving down the dead-end road that parallels the break wall and on the horizon I see a figure in the distance that is shaped just like an owl - I let out an audible ‘and there she is’, smiling from ear to ear while confusing Bruce as he is unsure who I am talking to.
A mystical experience - Fujifilm X-S20 | 600mm | f5.6
Her position was nearly perfect, no objects in the way and close to a picnic area that fingers into the water, enabling me to get 50 yards closer and only about 100 yards away all together. One other birder is there too, arriving a minute or so before me. We both hop out of our vehicles, grab our cameras and head onto the finger, proceeding with caution to not disturb her. Of course, with my low optimism of seeing an owl today, I failed to bring a jacket, the wind off the lakeshore was very cold - big mistake & a lesson learned.
I set my camera up on my tripod and begin snapping pics while freezing my banquets off. She was not moving, just shifting her head from left to right. After a getting a few, but similar shots with various ISOs I got back into the car to warm up.
I sat in the car for a good 45 minutes, simply watching her and sharing some pics with family - they’ve been waiting for me to capture this moment. After warming up, I proceeded back out into the cold with another birder, snapping a few more pictures and proceeding back into my car to warm up again. After about 10 minutes of being back into the vehicle, she flew off north over the lakeshore. Another reason I regret not bringing a jacket, as I could have been outside and ready to capture her flight. Oh well.
This adventure was such a great experience and I am looking forward to more. I plan on heading back to the area in the coming weeks, but I want snow on the ground first. With the recent warm weather, all 6 inches of our snow melted!
Coincidently enough, that same morning, I watched a documentary, along with my two youngest kids, on snowy owls. Perhaps I should take to watching documentaries on other species I am hoping to see, it could be a good luck charm.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
-Nathan