Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: #ethicalowlphoto

I'M TAKING A BREAK! I think this may be the last photo I post for perhaps a couple of weeks or so. Many of the photos I've recently been posting have been from my archives and I feel like I keep posting photos of the same few subjects - like this owl, lol! I've barely been out anywhere for many weeks and for quite a while, I've been finding it hard to keep motivated - which probably means that those of you who visit my photostream very often, are also feeling a little (or very!) bored : ) So, very unusual for me, I'm taking a short break, and will post when I have taken photos of different things that feed my heart and soul - and hopefully yours, too. ************************************************************************************** On 29 January 2017, I left home hoping to see one species of owl and came home having seen a different species instead! There was no sign of the first kind of owl, despite quite a few other pairs of eyes that had been searching. I don't normally drive from one location to another one that is a long way away, but I did this day, and I am so glad I did. When I reached my second destination, I slowed down, starting to check the trees and fence line. Then I spotted a car parked further up the road and found that there were a couple of photographers who had already found the owl. In the short time I was there, this beautiful Northern Hawk Owl was busy hunting, flying from tree to tree and along the fence line. I saw the owl dive into the snow twice - not sure if it caught a Meadow Vole the first time or not, as I wasn't quick enough to get a photo, but I did see it with a Meadow Vole dangling from its beak the second time. Sorry for the little rodent, but glad that the owl had a tasty snack. The last time I was lucky enough to see one of these gorgeous birds of prey was on 8 February 2016, NW of the city, just over a year ago. It was just the same thrill seeing the one in this photo! "The type of prey the Hawk-Owl catches will determine its eating strategy. For mammalian prey the ritual is generally the same: the Northern Hawk-Owl will eviscerate its prey, eats the head first (especially for prey like the red squirrel, whose head is fairly large), and then—when tackling larger prey—it will eat the organs and cache the remains; with smaller prey, the owl will simply swallow the body whole." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Hawk-Owl "The Northern Hawk Owl can detect prey by sight at a distance of up to 800 meters (half a mile). Though it is thought to detect prey primarily by sight, the Northern Hawk Owl can find and seize prey under 30 cm (1 foot) of snow." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org

My spirits were lifted on 24 January 2017, with this sighting of a beautiful Barred Owl. I've barely been out looking for Snowy Owls and Short-eared Owls (or anything!) this winter and have only seen a few, very distant birds - at least until the 25 January 2017, when I was lucky enough to see 11 Snowy Owls (all but one, distant) outside the city, with a friend who is brilliant at spotting things. I've also missed a recent Long-eared Owl, a Northern Saw-whet Owl and a Northern Pygmy-owl. The EXIF data for this photo, by the way, is Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm, so it just looks closer than it actually was. Always feels strange looking at an owl with dark eyes, not yellow, but they are so beautiful. This was only the second 100% wild Barred Owl I’d ever seen. I did see one in Fish Creek Park, and also I had seen a family of them near Edmonton, when we went to see ones that had been banded. They were wild birds, but I still hoped to one day see a completely wild one (no nesting box). The owl in this photo was beautiful – crummy light, but I was so happy to see this owl. We very rarely see this species within the city, so it was a real treat. Took a long walk before seeing it, and it took me a few days to recover from it - but it was so worth it. I haven't been back since, unlike a lot of people, who went back day after day and spent a lot of time with it. I guess the bird hasn't been totally stressed, or perhaps it would have moved on. "The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. But this attractive owl, with soulful brown eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage, can also pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb. Originally a bird of the east, during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward into California." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_owl

Our temperature today, 24 February 2017, is -7C (windchill -14C) and it's snowing again. Much as I would like to stay home all day, I have no choice but to go and get some urgent things done. On 29 January 2017, I left home hoping to see one species of owl and came home having seen a different species instead! There was no sign of the first kind of owl, despite quite a few other pairs of eyes that had been searching. I don't normally drive from one location to another one that is a long way away, but I did this day, and I am so glad I did. I am not disclosing the area, especially after what some photographers have been doing recently to get close photos of a Barred Owl. While most photographers are respectful of wildlife, there are always those who will do anything to get a closer shot or an in-flight capture. When I reached my second destination, I slowed down, starting to check the trees and fence line. Then I spotted a car parked further up the road and found that there were a couple of photographers who had already found the owl. In the short time I was there, this beautiful Northern Hawk Owl was busy hunting, flying from tree to tree and along the fence line. I saw the owl dive into the snow twice - not sure if it caught a Meadow Vole the first time or not, as I wasn't quick enough to get a photo, but I did see it with a Meadow Vole dangling from its beak the second time. Sorry for the little rodent, but glad that the owl had a tasty snack. The last time I had been lucky enough to see one of these gorgeous birds of prey was just over a year ago, on 8 February 2016, NW of the city. It was just the same thrill seeing the one in this photo! "The type of prey the Hawk-Owl catches will determine its eating strategy. For mammalian prey the ritual is generally the same: the Northern Hawk-Owl will eviscerate its prey, eats the head first (especially for prey like the red squirrel, whose head is fairly large), and then—when tackling larger prey—it will eat the organs and cache the remains; with smaller prey, the owl will simply swallow the body whole." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Hawk-Owl "The Northern Hawk Owl can detect prey by sight at a distance of up to 800 meters (half a mile). Though it is thought to detect prey primarily by sight, the Northern Hawk Owl can find and seize prey under 30 cm (1 foot) of snow." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org

On 29 January 2017, I left home hoping to see one species of owl and came home having seen a different species instead! There was no sign of the first kind of owl, despite quite a few other pairs of eyes that had been searching. I don't normally drive from one location to another one that is a long way away, but I did this day, and I am so glad I did. I am not disclosing the area, especially after what some photographers have been doing recently to get close photos of a Barred Owl. While most photographers are respectful of wildlife, there are always those who will do anything to get a closer shot or an in-flight capture. The EXIF data for this photo is Focal Length (35mm format) - 1200 mm. When I reached my second destination, I slowed down, starting to check the trees and fence line. Then I spotted a car parked further up the road and found that there were a couple of photographers who had already found the owl. In the short time I was there, this beautiful Northern Hawk Owl was busy hunting, flying from tree to tree and along the fence line. I saw the owl dive into the snow twice - not sure if it caught a Meadow Vole the first time or not, as I wasn't quick enough to get a photo, but I did see it with a Meadow Vole dangling from its beak the second time. Sorry for the little rodent, but glad that the owl had a tasty snack. The last time I was lucky enough to see one of these gorgeous birds of prey was on 8 February 2016, NW of the city, one year ago. It was just the same thrill seeing the one in this photo! "The type of prey the Hawk-Owl catches will determine its eating strategy. For mammalian prey the ritual is generally the same: the Northern Hawk-Owl will eviscerate its prey, eats the head first (especially for prey like the red squirrel, whose head is fairly large), and then—when tackling larger prey—it will eat the organs and cache the remains; with smaller prey, the owl will simply swallow the body whole." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Hawk-Owl "The Northern Hawk Owl can detect prey by sight at a distance of up to 800 meters (half a mile). Though it is thought to detect prey primarily by sight, the Northern Hawk Owl can find and seize prey under 30 cm (1 foot) of snow." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org

I have been taking so few photos recently, so am now having to dig into my archives most of the time. The few times I have been out, I have either seen nothing or nothing that I can photograph. Now, there are very urgent things that need to be done, and I must put them first. This morning, 15 February 2017, the temperature is +5C and it's supposed to climb to +12C this afternoon! Hard to believe that we had windchills down to -34C not so long ago. Back to closer to 0C in another couple of days, though. Apart from the last couple of weeks, the last time I was lucky enough to see one of these gorgeous Northern Hawk Owls was a year ago, on 8 February 2016, NW of the city. It was just the same thrill seeing this recent one. The first time I saw the owl in this photo was 29 January 2017. Since then, I have called in briefly maybe three other times, once just for 10 minutes. The first day was by far the best day, as the owl perched on a few fence posts, nicely out in the open. The other times, it has been in one tree or another, or perched high up on top of a utility pole next to an insulator. As you can tell by the sky, the light was terrible for taking this photo. I am not disclosing the area, especially after what some photographers have been doing recently to get close photos of a Barred Owl. While most photographers are respectful of wildlife, there are always a few who will do anything to get a closer shot. "The type of prey the Hawk-Owl catches will determine its eating strategy. For mammalian prey the ritual is generally the same: the Northern Hawk-Owl will eviscerate its prey, eats the head first (especially for prey like the red squirrel, whose head is fairly large), and then—when tackling larger prey—it will eat the organs and cache the remains; with smaller prey, the owl will simply swallow the body whole." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Hawk-Owl "The Northern Hawk Owl can detect prey by sight at a distance of up to 800 meters (half a mile). Though it is thought to detect prey primarily by sight, the Northern Hawk Owl can find and seize prey under 30 cm (1 foot) of snow." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/northern_hawk_owl/lifehistory

My spirits were lifted on 24 January 2017, with this sighting of a beautiful Barred Owl. I've barely been out looking for Snowy Owls and Short-eared Owls this winter and have only seen a few, very distant birds - at least until the 25 January 2017, when I was lucky enough to see 11 Snowy Owls (all but one, distant) outside the city, with a friend who is brilliant at spotting things. I've also missed a recent Long-eared Owl, a Northern Saw-whet Owl and a Northern Pygmy-owl. The EXIF data for this photo, by the way, is Focal Length (35mm format) - 864 mm, so it just looks closer than it actually was. Always feels strange looking at an owl with dark eyes, not yellow, but they are beautiful. This was only the second 100% wild Barred Owl I’d ever seen. I had seen a family of them near Edmonton, when we went to see ones that had been banded. They were wild birds, but I still hoped to one day see a completely wild one (no nesting box). The owl in this photo was beautiful – crummy light, but I was so happy to see this owl. We very rarely see this species within the city, so it was a real treat. Took a long walk before seeing it, and it took me a few days to recover from it - but it was so worth it. I haven't been back since, unlike a lot of people, who go back day after day and spend a lot of time with it. I guess the bird hasn't been totally stressed, or perhaps it would have moved on. "The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. But this attractive owl, with soulful brown eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage, can also pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb. Originally a bird of the east, during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward into California." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_owl