The Hunt for the Snowy Owl

I love photographing birds and especially birds of prey.  I find them to be beautiful and fascinating creatures.  While I’ve captured images of numerous hawks and eagles, I have only 1 image of a great horned owl in my collection as most owls and I tend to keep different schedules.

I recently watched an excellent episode of “Nature” on PBS titled “Magic of the Snowy Owl” (full episode here).  It follows the plight of one breeding pair of snowy owls in the Alaskan tundra and features some simply stunning cinematography.

Clip from “Magic of the Snowy Owl”

One of the things that I learned during this broadcast is that is the juvenile owls that occasionally find their way into our neck of the woods.  When food sources are scarce in their native homes, these young and less skilled hunters make their way south in search of easier meals.  There have already been reports of Snowy Owls spotted in southern Wisconsin again this year and I’m hopeful that I’ll find myself among the lucky few to frame one within my camera viewfinder.

While I can watch the local bird spotting web sites and take variations of the numerous country roads on my way to the office each morning, Lady Luck will undoubtedly play a huge role in any success I might have.

Have you ever seen a snowy owl?  Were you lucky enough to photograph it?