Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: heavily feathered taloned feet

I've had such a problem trying to adjust the colour of this image - and now I give up. Looking up into an overcast sky just never seems to work for me and my camera. I just can't do justice to this magnificent Snowy Owl female (or juvenile?) that we saw yesterday afternoon, east of the city. In the morning, a few of us had got together with owl bander, Richard Chamberland, who had come down to Calgary. He very generously invited a few of us to go looking for a certain Northern Hawk Owl, which we didn't manage to find. From there, we drove south and then east of the city, hoping to be able to find and band a Snowy Owl. One was seen, far in the distance, on the ground. It flew to a couple of very high poles, but stayed there. After Richard had had to leave to do other things, three friends and I continued to travel the backroads, coming across this beautiful female in a place where they had seen her before. She posed for us on an aerial of some sort as well as a couple of very tall poles. This particular one was wooden, which made a welcome change. From my photo, you would think that she was around eye-level and close, but no such luck, ha. The best view for marvelling at this owl's wonderfully dark feather pattern was when we saw her from the side - will post those photos over the next little while. Thanks so much, Richard, for giving up your morning for us - it was good to see you again - and thanks, Phil and Rob, for the ride around the Prairies and for showing Bonnie and me this beautiful bird. Much appreciated! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowy_Owl

Isn't she beautiful? Not only did I see this gorgeous Snowy Oowl, but I also found friends, Phil and Rob, at the very same spot when I drove east of the city on 28 February 2013. I lightened her plumage a little so that I could see the yellow of her eyes, but in reality, her pattern was quite a dark brown. Hope everyone isn't getting too fed up of Snowy Owl photos : ) Got to head out this morning to meet birding friends part way across the city. Not sure how far I will get, as winter returned with a vengeance yesterday, bringing a heavy snow storm. Everyone in southern Alberta was told to stay off the roads yesterday, so I'm really hoping they will be driveable this morning. Not my favourite thing to do, but ....