An Owly Update

Canon Rebel XTi, 70-300 @ 135mm, ISO 800, f/4.5, 1/250
by Derek Griggs

In my recently posted 2011 Goals and Looking Forward post, I mentioned some things I'd like to accomplish this year. I also mentioned that would be some opportunities that I could not predict that may present themselves. This aspect is part of the fun of looking forward to the year ahead. Trying to imagine what those best of moments might be.
Here we are exactly one week from that post and already an fantastic opportunity has possibly presented itself. A snowy owl was seen in south of the Twin Cities and has possibly taken up residency for the winter. It's only about a 45 minute drive from my house and I've already made two trip down there. The reason you don't see a snowy owl photo in this post is because I have yet to find it. In wildlife photography almost nothing is a guarantee and I only stated this is a fantastic opportunity, but it is a exciting one to say the least.

There have also have been an increasing amount of great gray owl sightings in northern Minnesota along with the regular northern hawk owls that have been seen. So is there a chance to get a tri-fecta of owls this year? The snowy, great gray, and northern hawk owl? I'd say the the chance is there!

So this is kind of the plan for the next couple of weeks. Locate and photograph northern owls. Sounds like a heck of a time to me. And if you see a post in the next couple of weeks of an empty, snowy perch, it will be a shot of the snowy owl that I never found!