snowy owl

Possibly one of my favourite of all the owls; the Snowy Owl.  Ive only had one opportunity to photograph these beautiful birds in Minnesota in 2023.  This had been a particularly tough trip for Owl photography as the weather had been unseasonably warm and they were all proving to be very hard to find.

We had been told by someone we bumped into that Snowy Owls had been seen at Crex Meadows in Wisconsin a few hours drive away from where we were staying.  Getting desperate we headed over there and spent several hours driving around.  We bumped into a guy who pointed us in the distance to a tiny little white blob which he said was a Snowy Owl.  As we drove up; sure enough there he was sat relaxing.

We decided to get out of the car and approach slowly in the snow on foot.  We were able to get close enough for some nice pictures and to just sit and watch this beautiful owl for a few minutes.  The images were taken on my Z9 with the 800mm PF lens and the 2x Teleconverter and the cropped in post so as not to disturb the owl.  It was probably the highlight of the trip for me and a memory of a lifetime to be that close to this stunning bird in its natural habitat.

I have not fully scratched my Snowy Owl itch yet and im sure I will get out to the US or Canada again in the hope of getting more images.

The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus), also known as the polar owl, white owl, and Arctic owl, is a large, white owl native to the Arctic regions of North America and the Palearctic. These majestic birds breed primarily on the tundra. With their thick, white plumage and feather-covered feet, they are well-adapted for life in the Arctic Circle. Snowy owls are about 60 cm (approximately 2 feet) long, have broad wings, and possess a round head without ear tufts. Unlike most owls, they are often active during the day, especially in summer. Their diet includes lemmings and other small mammals, and they can adapt to various prey when needed. Snowy owls are nomadic, rarely breeding in the same locations or with the same mates annually, and they occasionally migrate southward when food becomes scarce in the Arctic.