On the fence

This photo was taken on 2 April 2016, NW of the city. It feels like months since I last saw a Great Gray. It had been a week since I had last driven to this area, so I decided to drive there again and see if one could be seen. When I arrived, three people had already found a Great Gray Owl - apparently, it had been sitting on a fence post moments before, but flew off into the far line of trees just as I was slowly arriving. Much as I am delighted to see an owl anywhere, along the edge of the trees is my least favourite place, as the owl is then in the shade.

After a while, I decided to drive further along the road to see if there were any other owls to be seen, and when I returned, the handful of people were photographing one sitting on a fence post. I just managed to get three or four shots before it flew off to the forest. Not the greatest shot, which is why I didn't upload it as my main image this morning, but it was nice to see the bird perched in the sunlight.

"Although the Great Gray Owl is the tallest American owl with the largest wingspan, it is just a ball of feathers. It preys on small mammals and has relatively small feet. Both the Great Horned and Snowy owls weigh half again as much, and have larger feet and talons. The oldest recorded Great Gray Owl was at least 18 years, 9 months old and lived in Alberta." From AllABoutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Gray_Owl/lifehistory

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Grey_Owl