As they say, if at first you don't succeed, try, and try again. Over the past 3 years I have spent hundreds of hours and driven hundreds of miles in search of the elusive Snowy Owl.
With an extreme fluctuation in the population of migrating birds from the Arctic, some years us New Englanders may never see a Snowy at all like in the winter of 2010. Hunger and changing abundance of prey can drive these typically far northern birds deep into the lower 48. The winter of 2011-2012 seems to be a banner year with birds reported almost every day along the coast from Connecticut-Maine.
This past weekend I headed to plum island in search of this elusive owl. I headed out before sunrise to arrive just as the sun was coming up at Plum Island, just east of Newburyport , MA. I had a plan and I was sticking to it. I won't get int to many details as I would like to try this again, next weekend, but it worked. This large adult owl was very patient and relaxed. I was able to sit on the sand and watch the owl several times as it ate a seagull, hunted the dunes, and roosted along the sea. I drove home buzzing with the excitement of finally getting photos I could " see the pupil of the eye". That is how I often measure my photos, by the crispness of the pupil of the eye. This may seem excessive, but I have learned when the pupil is clear and sharp at 100% the rest of the image with be epic!
-Bill
For more Snowy Owl Images please visit my
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