Moonlighting

Canon EOS 40D @ ISO 800 with 300 f/4L IS lens

The "Great Horned Owl" the fiercest and the most common of owls in Canada is visually stunning. It is sometime called the cat owl because of its cat like ears, eyes, and shape of head and appearance when huddled up in its nest. This particular great horned owl that I found fast asleep in this tree must have had a busy night on the hunt, as he paid me no never mind as I fired my electronic flash in his face. I found this great horned owl asleep about thirty feet up in this tree in heavy cover and had problems trying to get a clear shot of him because of tree branches in my shooting alley.

After I had shot a number of captures, as this great horned owl snored on his perch, I decided that maybe I could get him to wake up and give me a smile. I began to give my rendition of a owl's hoot and as he began to stir, I was ready with my camera. Nope-it didn't get him to open his eyes, other that maybe got him to shift his head to a more comfy position. Re-thinking my strategy, I happened to look down and spotted a dead branch beneath my feet. Taking hold of the branch and snapping it in two was the answer. I had one sleepy owl with eyes half open giving me a look that said "Get Lost", so I took my cue and as I moved away from the owls roost, a look back found him asleep, dreaming of silently gliding through the moonlit sky in search of prey for his next meal.

I had to laugh as I moved about shooting photos with a gang of Black-Capped Chickadee's following along looking for a handout. On occasion one would land on my camera lens, maybe hanging up-side-down from the lens hood. I need to bring a second camera with me to capture photos of myself being assaulted by these cute feathery bundles of energy. The mornings are proving to be quite brisk with the temperature hovering at -10 Celsius when I parked my truck and hit the trail on this morning. Funny how you put all your cold weather gear away and when you go to take it out at this time of the year, you spend a week looking for your shooting gloves. I found myself in that position lately and will have to rectify the situation as the shooting gloves I normally wear with outer mitts for those times the action wanes, missing. I played hide and seek with the deer that were on the move, feeding and working their way to the river for a drink of water, before making their way back into heavy cover to bed down for the day. So-as the sun rises from the east and the moon finally disappears below the western horizon, and with the owls on their roosts and the deer in their beds, its time that I give these woods back to its feathery and furry residents.

Canon EOS 40D @ ISO 400 with 300 F/4L IS lens