great grey owl

[denis]

taken monday.




he came in for a vole right in front of me in this one.

[JW Mills]

Excellent photos Denis, especially the last one!

[denis]

thanks john.
worth the long drive,as this was a first for me.

[feathered]

Great shots. I find it fascinating how well you can see the moult boundaries between the faded brown feathers and the new grey ones.

[denis]

thank you

[BoboBird]

Master photog at work - super pics. Well done.

[Rob'in'To]

Denis...  you freakin' rock!  m/  m/  Awesome!

[denis]

thanks guys.
this guy is really photogenic.

[Howieh]

I'm speechless (none of my friends would believe that, but anyway...). Since there's very little chance I'll ever see one in real life I really appreciate seeing these. You certainly deserved to be rewarded for several hours of winter driving!

[MEGHAN]

Nice job Denis.
I'm glad you finally got out there.
I went again yesterday. Super cold, but another great show.
Are you going out again or are you happy with what you have?

[Reg]

Great set Denis, love the I/F shots

[denis]

I'm speechless (none of my friends would believe that, but anyway...). Since there's very little chance I'll ever see one in real life I really appreciate seeing these. You certainly deserved to be rewarded for several hours of winter driving!

thanks howie.
it was a long drive,but worth it in the end,as it was my first after a 4 year wait.

[denis]

thanks megan,and reg.
megan: i,m pretty happy with i have and dont plan on going out again.it was nice early in the morning,as there were only a handful of very respectful people on hand.
we were on one side of the road and the owl on the other.
later on,though,a large group came in,with mostly point and shoot cameras,and of course they had to creep closer,to whitin 10 ft., of the owl.
when the owl would launch at a vole in the ditch,some of them would run over to whitin a few feet,as they had lost sight of it.it angered most of the responsible birders,photogs that were on hand.i had enough at this point,and left.

[MEGHAN]

I hear you Denis. It's a bloody gong show there.  :roll: I got there a bit later than planned on Tuesday due to a snowstorm from hell. Better know as London Ontario.  :wink:
I picked that day because I assumed the frigid temps would keep away only the insane. It was nice and quiet when I got there. Just the "regulars" By the time I left just after 3, there were so many people there I was actually shocked. People like myself stayed on the other side of the road from the Owl. But you are correct in saying that anyone who had a point and shoot or camera phone was right up in it's face. Even people with good gear were getting impatient with the Owl just sitting. It was very windy that day and the Owl was getting knocked around by the wind alot so it flew down into the grass and  stayed hunkered down for over 2 hours.Once it did come up to hunt along the ditches it  ended up getting boxed in with people on all 4 sides of it and they just kept getting closer. If finally got fed up and took off. It realized it could not hunt because people where in it's path no matter which way it decided to fly. There are a couple of local guys. Kevin, Jerry, I know you talked to them, and a few others who have made it their mission to do all they can to try to protect the bird and tell people to stay back on the opposite side of the road so it can hunt, but they lost the battle on Tuesday. I ended up leaving after that, it was too much of a circus. In the time I was there the Owl didn't catch anything and i was told he only had on meal that was noticed on Monday. People are starting to prevent this Owl from hunting by getting to close to it. Hopefully it will smarten up and go a bit back into the fields where it can still be watched and appreciated but not bothered,

Denis, I apologize for ranting on your post. But the beauty of your photos should teach everyone that this Owl may not be around for everyone to photograph and enjoy if people do not give it the space it needs.

Meghan  

[denis]

very well said megan.
no need to apologize.couldn,t of said it better myself.i hope it flies off into the woods where it can hunt in peace.