Snowy in the sun

While I enjoyed shooting my first snowy on the way home from work -it was a little late in the day and the sky was cloudy - tough light... so on my first opportunity with bright sunshine and blue sky, I gave up the last weekend of Eagle Watch to see if I could find a snowy in the middle of the day... which I haven't had luck at ... yet...  So I showed up - camera and Allie  (my puppy) ... and I spied one a long ways off on the top of a tree - just enjoying the sunshine... so I pulled over in the parking lot to see if it really was one. Took one long distance shot and zoomed in 500x or so in the viewer  - that's how far he was away - and sure enough - it was one... So I watched for a minute and then he took off from that perch - flew right towards me and then veered off a bit and landed right on the edge of the dunes between the parking lot and the beach !!! So out of the truck I get and scoot on over to where I can see a bit more... He took off from that perch and flew directly at me - then dropped down to the ground and dug through the snow. I didn't see if he nabbed anything - but he may have swallowed before I got him back in my sights - so here he is ...

Up and back to the perch ...

This one is my favourite and will probably make it to the office as a 12x18...

 I stood and watched for about 45 minutes ... and without wanting to disturb him I was patiently waiting for my last chance at a "take-off and cruise"... I was just about to give up the hunt but I said - just 5 more minutes - he's going to move at some point ... I call this time span "overtime" and stuck it out. Out of the corner of my eye - you can only look through the viewfinder for so long... I noticed a small dog moving toward the owl - with his walker - they didn't see the owl - but alas - my patience paid off as my heart skipped a beat - getting ready - It was sooooo nice knowing that I was going to get my shot, rather than the typical "heart attack - there he goes!!!" and he was probably going to head my way ... and whamm - off he took...

 

He landed on top of a pole right at the highway - so I drove over there - it was on the way home - pulled off on a side road and walked back right up and under him - he wasn't perturbed. He must be used to a lot of walkers by now, I guess, and so I ended up with my snowy in blue sky from about 12 feet or so... 

 Nice to see what happens when you "show up", and are patient (waiting through the "overtime"). I was very conscious about disturbing him - after all - he is looking for food - life and death stuff. Even having him watch me as a distraction started to bother me - distracted from watching for food ... but then along came the dog and walker and moved him for me ... I guess he has to get used to living near people like we have to get used to living near wildlife ... That's the thought for today ... Lots of fun...