If this is the first Great Gray Owl page you have visited be sure to also see the two with the owl flying, eating a mouse, and in a snow storm. Click HERE and HERE and these pages will open as new tabs so you can finish reading this page.
I spent a bit less than 2 hours yesterday with the Great Gray Owl that visited Newport, NH. When I saw the postings of its location, I knew right where it was because my wife and I walk, and I have biked, the Sugar River Rail Trail from time to time. It is a lovely stretch of old rail trail all the way to Claremont.
Photographers came and went. Some were there before I arrived and stayed later than I did. While I was there the owl just sat on one perch. If one is looking for variety with owls and flight shots, one has to put in time in the field which I did not yesterday. Yet I certainly enjoyed the owl, my second Great Gray in the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Area. I found my first Great Gray early one Sunday morning while driving to Vermont to photograph some Trackers on assignment for a magazine. I saw it off to the side of the road as I drove by, turned around, and took a few quick shots out the window of my slowly-moving car. It was only when I got home later that afternoon and looked at my images on my large monitor that I realized what I had found.
Four days later I hiked into a nearby swampy area and spent over 30 minutes completely alone with the owl as the sun rose behind it. That was a magical experience.
Back to the Newport Great Gray Owl…
The most exciting time while I was there yesterday was when a vehicle came down the trail and removed a small fallen tree. That really perked the sleepy owl up.
Here is the owl staring at the vehicle as it approached from the north.
Even though it was mostly stationary, the owl was a joy to be with.
The owl twitched its nose, blinked, looked around, and went back to sleep.
I’m not sure if it saw something below it or not, but it sure can turn its head, as all owls can. At times it looked behind into the field.
It was a spectacular bird.
Last summer while hiking with my wife along the area where the owl was, I got a few birds with a “walk-around-lens”.
I returned two days later and got some photos of the Great Gray Owl in Action. You can see them if you CLICK HERE.