Wednesday I got some photos of the Great Gray Owl that visited Newport, NH sitting, looking left and right, and sitting some more. I returned Friday intent on getting some action shots. I should have not bothered to come Friday morning, but I was there for 2 hours anyway. I returned in the afternoon for 80 minutes.
This was the scene when I left Friday morning a bit after 11.
When I returned in the afternoon, taking the short way in, I made this image from near the bridge. Some photographers are out of sight below the small hill.
Finally, 45 minutes after I arrived, there was some action. The owl pounced on something below it. The Great Gray either ate it while on the ground or came up empty, because it returned to it perch for the day empty clawed.
At 4:48 the owl finally decided it was time to hunt. I had positioned myself with my back to the wind so when it left its low perch it flew right by me. Here is a sequence of it preparing to launch and the first part of its flight.
I did not actually clip its wings in the sequence above. I simply lined up all backgrounds and cropped all the photos to the same size. Here is the later part of the flight.
The Great Gray flew to a tree at the edge of the field.
Here is how the owl signals it is about to fly.
Owls are amazing fliers, even in a jumble of branches.
It landed, the crowd followed it south down the field, then it flew again. A snow squall appeared out of nowhere, so I figured that it was a good time to leave. It was pretty dark by then anyway.
Below is a comparison of a Snowy Owl with a Great Gray Owl based on information in Sibley. The Great Gray is 4″ taller, but only 60% of the weight of a Snowy.
If you CLICK HERE the photos of the Great Gray Owl from a week after the photos above will open in a new tab. These include more flight photos, the owl in a snowstorm, and the owl catching a vole.
If you CLICK HERE the photos of the Great Gray Owl from last Wednesday will open in a new tab.
If you CLICK HERE the first report of the Great Gray Owl I found in Hanover 4 years ago will open in a new tab.
If you CLICK HERE a fuller report of the Great Gray Owl I found in Hanover 4 years ago will open in a new tab.