Great Gray Owl perched, in the light snow.

[Michael Thompson]

I have been busy and not gone birding in a long time. So it was good to get away for a day on my annual trip to Sax Zim Bog in northern Minnesota! It was a great time, lightly overcast with a little snow and light winds, so the Owls were really active, pouncing on lots of prey in the ditches and fields. I got a lot of pics of the Great Gray owls, and one Northern Hawk Owl put on quite a show as well. This one I got with my Canon 7D ll with the 100-400 ll at 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 ss, 2500 iso, manfrotto mono pod.

[gail bisson]

This ticks all the boxes for me Michael!
Great IQ, lovely mood created by the falling snow and the direct gaze is wonderful.
Love the snow on the tree.
Excellent and the your processing on the noise for the 7DII at ISO 2500 looks good.
Gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love the pine perch, and snow. Of course the subject is rather impressive as well. I will admit that the neck stretch and slight upwards glance is not my favorite (personal preference), but everything else is top notch. Beautiful BG too.

[William Dickson]

Very nice Michael. You done really good here to get a great perch and BG. Which, in turn shows the bird real well. The snow adds. I also like your crop.

Will

[Isaac Grant]

About the best subject there is in my opinion. I love the way the bird blends so well with the background. Snow adds to the image for sure. I agree with Daniel that I wish you had the owl facing you more. But I understand that unless these guys are being baited they typically pay people no mind and spend little if any time looking at us. Pretty good for that ISO as well.

[Matt Shellenberg]

That pine perch is great and I really like the way that you composed this, Michael. Nice detail in that beautiful owl and the snow is big plus.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the snowy perch, falling snow, complimentary BG and composition. Excellent processing and image Michael!