It was in January’s cold and dark of a self-imposed mid-winter birding “slump” when my phone chirped out begging for my attention. Several hours later I half-heartedly glanced at the phone to see the text was from a fellow-birder, Dan K; coffee co-conspirator of all things birds and bird photography. I thought, “excellent, a coffee shop meet-up to stir me out of a slumber to talk birds” . But what met me upon opening the text was: “…. photographed GGOW...” I don’t remember what the rest of text was about, but I knew in an instant that my dream of seeing and photographing a Great Gray Owl for the first time could become a dream come true. A bird that is only infrequently and sporadically seen in my area; and with no plans to make the effort to “chase” them down - Great Gray Owl was truly, pretty much, a dream.
In a “typical year” one expects to see the near- mythical, and mostly elusive Great Gray Owl in the Boreal Forests of northern latitudes in Canada and far northern United States. Not very likely in my neighborhood in most years. This has, however, not been a typical year in SW Idaho. Another time, another story.
Primarily a bird of dense, northern boreal forests, it finds suitable coniferous habitat south into the northern Rocky and Sierra mountains and along some central Asiatic mountain chains. A rodent specialist, this owl favors areas near bogs, forest edge, montane meadows, and other openings. In some winters, when its prey are scarce, individuals from northern populations of this elusive raptor wander south to the northern U.S. and southern Canada, often in considerable numbers and always to the delight of birdwatchers.
birdsoftheworld.org
Booted and suited the following morning I spilled out of the house at 5:30 am to make the not-too-distant, but over-the-mountain drive to the spot where GGOW was photographed by Dan several days earlier. Note: The owls photographed herein were not called or baited, and ethical bird photography guidelines as described by Audubon were followed. www.audubon.org/...
The closet to my home in Boise, Idaho where one can reasonably, if not sporadically, expect to see Great Gray Owl is in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem some 6-7 hours away. So it was with great anticipation that I made the less than one hour drive to the reported spot, with hopes of at least seeing a GGOW; and hope-upon-hope of photographing one. Arriving well before sunrise I thought it might be possible to at least hear hooting, or even catch sight of one nocturnal hunting.
It was cold and still dark when I arrived, with a full moon brightening the snow-reflected landscape. I thought about the possibility of capturing an owl in the full moon but it was not to happen this particular early morning. Perhaps another time. The warmth of the truck and thermos of coffee made me reluctant to get out to listen and watch for Great Gray Owl, so I merely turned off the vehicle and rolled the windows down to let out the comforting heat, and to equilibrate the camera (and myself) to the ambient cold and dry conditions.
Immediately I was rewarded with a simultaneous set of soft hoots some distance across an open grass meadow and an apparition of a very large owl silently materializing, gliding to the top of a tall snag about 30 meters distant. I was stunned by the massive wing spread of Great Gray Owl.
Knowing that at least two owls were in close proximity I awakened fast as my heart and breathing rates elevated, and I started fidgeting with my camera. “Sheesh”, I said to myself, “calm down, ‘cause there is nothing you can do now but savor the moment”.
Photographs were out of the question in the darkness, so I got out of the truck and just sat imitating a bump on the nearest downed tree.
As the sky brightened I was able to see a section of habitat that appeared — based upon what I had read — to be suitable for GGOW, and decided to trudge/break-through 6 inches of crusted snow to a spot somewhat sheltered from the brisk breeze among low growing willows in a low lying drainage course.
Interspersed between and around several rather large openings of native grass, wild rose, and weed patches are stands of old native black cottonwoods with many snags, interspersed by a lower canopy of willows and some locust trees among them all. This is a wildlife management area (WMA) dotted with small ponds and drainage-control watercourses that is surrounded by steep buttes and distant mountain vistas, and that is well known for owl activity; with several Great-horned Owl, Western Screech-owl, Short-earred Owl, and other less viewable species known to inhabit or otherwise visit the WMA.
I tucked myself into the spot sheltered out of obvious sight on the edge of a small opening surrounded by trees and shrubs. There were several likely looking perches within sight of my “nest”. Within a short time (minutes, an hour?) a Great Gray Owl landed on a perch very close by to stare at me! Following are some of the images captured during about 10 minutes of this most magical of first encounters.
My hope after making “posed” images from several different perspectives was that it would fly, affording me the opportunity to get a bird in flight (BIF) capture. Well, it did ultimately fly, but I was not quick enough to grab focus before it silently disappeared into the thick shrub and trees surrounding the opening. At that moment I understood why Great Gray Owl is referred to as “Ghost of the Forest”. I breathed — seemingly for the first time in minutes — and shakily “chimped” through several photos on the cameras small LCD screen. I knew that I had something at first glance, but I would have to wait until I returned home and loaded the photos to editing software to really see them well enough to know if there were any “keepers”.
I knew before leaving that I would return the following day in attempt to capture an image of this magnificent owl in flight.
Returning the following day again before sunrise I positioned myself in an area that I had scoped out the previous day that had a larger open area where I hoped to see my target(s) flying out to hunt. There were no audible or visual cues this morning as I had experienced the previous day. I was crestfallen. However, when the sky did lighten there were three (!) owls visible as they perched in snags separated about the periphery of perhaps a 20 acre open field of grasses and low growing wild rose shrubs. The three then commenced to hunt well within my field of reach with a 200-500 mm zoom lens.
Within an hour I had witnessed numerous hunting passes and pounces by the three.
Like most owls, Great Gray Owls have exceptional hearing. Their ears are asymmetrical on their heads, which means one ear is higher on one side than the other. This helps them pinpoint sound much better. Using only their hearing, they are able to locate and track a rodent moving beneath the snow. When the time is right, they pounce into the snow with their feet and quickly grab the unsuspecting prey without ever once laying eyes on it.
peregrinefund.org/...
As exhilarating as this was, and as thankful as I was to witness and photographically capture their hunting flights, I was still hoping for a shot of one hovering over a potential prey, while facing me. A fellow can dream…
Although it appears to be more massive than other owls of the northern forest, its actual body mass is at least 15% smaller than the more common Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), with which it shares habitat. Thus its plumage makes up much of the bulk of the bird, allowing it to withstand the bitter cold of northern winters. In addition, the Great Gray Owl can accurately locate by ear its rodent prey under snow, plunging through the surface to grab the unsuspecting vole beneath. It has been reported to break through snow crust thick enough to support the weight of an 80 kg man. birdsoftheworld.org/...
But then prey was spotted immediately between Great Gray Owl and myself, and he wheeled into position and floated on the slight breeze for a moment before making a dive that came up empty.
Having “got the shot” I took off my birding cap, put down the camera, and spent a couple hours just observing their hunting behavior. I was warmed by a mug of hot coffee, chocolates appropriated from my granddaughters, and fresh mental replays of Great Gray Owl performing aerial symphony before my eyes.
By this point word had spread that an owl viewing opportunity was to be had, and several other birders arrived on the scene for their own chance at capturing a sight, or even to photograph, this majestic bird. It was time to give them and the owls some of the space I was occupying. Notebook: an interesting perspective on ethics of bird photography, especially relating to Great Gray Owl, can be found here: www.outdoorphotographer.com/...
Reluctantly, it was time for me to leave as more people began to arrive, and I had already captured every thing that I had hoped for. And more. Except one thing: a shot of an owl in the moonlight. Maybe next year…
I decided that I didn’t need to return, as my dream of seeing and photographing GGOW had been fulfilled. Of course, things don’t always go as planned.
Between this time and now a fellow “buckateer” expressed an interest in coming to SW Idaho from his home in the Flint Hills of SE Kansas to perhaps see a Golden Eagle that I had been seeing, and that was on his “to do list”. Enter appy on the scene and all plans of not returning to visit GGOW eventually got revised.
Having driven more than 1,500 miles, and through two snow storms, appy arrived late one afternoon on a crisp blue sky day in mid-February a tired fellow. Unfortunately, he was not to get much rest and relaxation over the next three days. Getting acquainted and doing the obligatory house tour quickly escalated to excited bird nerd chatter of past glories and imagined future conquests. Over dinner I outlined a couple days of intense birding planned for his all too brief visit.
The following morning before sunrise, with a near full moon setting to the southwest — nearly one lunar cycle from my first encounter with GGOW — we found ourselves on a gravel road that sliced a narrow ribbon through otherwise only sage and grass-steppe topography. Among the treeless lava-rock-jutted landscape of rolling hills and volcanic outcrops, with distant snow covered peaks, it was easy to imagine the magnificent eagle, hawk and falcon to be near.
Appy wanted to see a Golden, and I was going to go through hell or high water if necessary for him to get his bird. Well, high water didn't happen, and Golden Eagle was located within a couple hours of departing on our early morning quest. In addition to the Golden we saw a good complement of other Idaho winter raptors: Bald Eagle; Rough-legged Hawk; Red-tailed Hawk; Ferruginous Hawk, American Kestrel, and Northern Harrier. And lots of smaller “flitter birds”, as appy calls anything smaller than a kestrel.
It was a fine day of raptor sightings, followed by a second early morning outing the next day to again see eagles and hawks and such. That too was a fine day that ended at the house for a little late lunch, and talk of what to do next.
I had been waiting for the opportunity to suggest to appy that he might like a chance to see Great Gray Owl. He was tired and still suffered truck-lag and not enough sleep, but the answer, of course, was “you bet, pard!”. After a quick lunch and exchange of pleasantries with ms sagebrush, we were headed off to the hills.
Driving out of the valley over the steep Boise Front we then followed a narrow winding road without guardrails running seriously close to the edge of a swollen mountain river that deposited us near our destination.
Upon parking and disembarking appy immediately heard, then saw Great Gray Owl. Fumbling with my gear, and having no hearing aids in, I saw and heard nothing. But fear not, appy was on it! As appy headed off with purpose to where his sighting had gone, I aimlessly wandered off in the opposite direction to afford him space to find his owl.
Within minutes an owl floated in and perched 50 meters away from me. An old hand at this by now, I took a “record” shot, and moved up a bit to see if I could get a good angle for a better shot. Having determined that a good angle was to be had I got appy’s attention with a stage whisper and a flailing free arm to come check it out. After pointing out the owl, appy moved in, and I moved out.
It was personally satisfying to be able to guide someone to a great find and to experience their thrill at observing a new, and especially enchanting bird. As we left the area we noted that the sunrise and full-moon-set was lining up to coincide in a few mornings. The following morning appy headed back toward the Kansas ranch, and the day following that I returned to see if I could catch Great Gray Owl silhouetted against the all-but-full moon.
Upon awakening to a clear night sky with only a high light haze, it looked promising four hours before I expected to catch the magic moment when an owl might be photographed from a position that put the full moon directly behind the owl. However, a quick glance at the weather app told me the conditions where going to worsen. Considerably. Accumulating snow was in the immediate forecast, with passing snow squalls throughout the early morning hours. I pushed on regardless, knowing from experience that forecasts are wrong as often as they are right.
The drive was pretty much white-knuckle all the way over the Boise Front, and it was snowing lightly when I finallly arrived, with the moon totally blacked out by clouds and snow. What was visible of the landscape was rendered to dark, mute tones of trees and shrubs only 100 meters distant. Regardless, I posted up where I had planned, with an old snag positioned between myself and where by compass I knew the moon would set. Hoping for a clearing in the clouds that never came, I snapped a few shots of the now five (!) owls that I could see individually on occasion. The overcast sky and fresh snow lent a certain correctness to photos of Great Gray Owl. In fact, they seemed more active in this weather condition, as well. Hunting was continuous for the hour that I spent observing. Below are some photos of the hunt. The moon was clearly not going to be clear this morning, but I was optimistic about the next morning based on forecast. I know: 50/50, right?
After arriving home to download and process the morning’s catch I spent a restless night interspersed with dreams of owls, moons, and a whole lot of gibberish; and weather worry. The weather had not yet completely cleared, and the forecast began to call for a possibility of morning precipitation.
Luckily, the earlier forecast for clear skies was correct for the next morning, and the moon and the stars aligned to present the scene that only one lunar cycle before was but a dream.
Driving to the spot in the early hours before simultaneous sunrise/moonset the landscape was brightly lighted as can only be seen on a cold, low humidity night in the mountains. Watching the full moon gradually descend in the clear sky during the drive, I was confident that the conditions were going to be correct for realizing a shot that I had been visualizing. A Great Gray Owl perched on a preselected snag with a clear view of the setting full moon behind it. Getting positioned just as the sun was brightening the sky enough to make a handheld image, Great Gray Owl — living up to its ‘Ghost of the Forest’ moniker — appeared dream-like in a silent swoop to perch upon the snag. Calming my breathing and heart rate I made a few shots while checking/confirming exposure. When satisfied with exposure I began taking short burst of 4-6 shots, refocusing between each burst. At the moment of the final burst the owl sprang from the perch in pursuit of prey.
I never knew if owl made its catch on this pounce as I lost sight of it in the viewfinder during the excitement, and it then disappeared into the twilight as dream-like as it had just moments before appeared.
Links to references
Audubon’s Guide to Ethical Bird Photography and Videography
Birds of the World: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Paul Bannick ‘Owl: A Year in the Lives of the North American Owls’
‘Great Gray Owl’ |The Peregrine Fund
www.nationalgeographic.org/…
www.outdoorphotographer.com/… In Search Of The Great Gray Owl