Winter - Northern Hawk-owl approaches over the knoll.
Winter for us means winter owls. Usually Snowy Owls are a given for us, but none have appeared so far this season. Thankfully a NHO as taken up temporary residence a short 1 hour drive away. The past couple of years a haven't done much owl photography (time constraints), but this year I made it a point to give myself time and opportunity to photograph these wonderful winter visitors...
Ideally I would like to see the complete tail, but it does give a sense of the slight knoll it had to clear to get to its prey. Even for flying owls I like to get down low!!:D
Nicely done Daniel. Glad to see you are able to make some images of this gut so close to home this winter. The one near me is about 4 hours away. Nice exposure and open wings. Good sharpness. Man I wish for some snow out here. Well done.
TFS
Todd
Randy, no "tossing" of the mice here, although I'm sure they'd love the slingshot ride:icon10:. These owls are quick, so the best way is to cover the mouse with an opaque plastic lid (e.g. laundry soap jug with bottom cut out) and tie cord around the handle...go back to your camera with the other end of the cord and tug the container away, revealing the mouse inside. Give it a good tug so the container is not in the way of the photograph. A colleague had a great idea of tying the jug to a fishing rod and just reeling the container away.