Tuesday 30 January 2018

Amherst Isl: looking for Snowy Owls 4

Spoiler alert: the only owls we saw were on the water. I had a really hard time photographing them, between the ferry moving, my slow reaction times and my vision issues with progressive glasses. Hubby was frozen and sitting in the car! There were three owls, in total.



It was a bit of a trip. But the owls were beautiful.
The owls were on the water, in camouflage, waiting for ducks to land in the broken ice where the ferry had gone through. I had to set the camera to automatic, as I am not fast enough to do it manually. This is the best I could do!



The ferry ride:



Why do we see so many? <= This is a good read. I think the lobby groups are voting for issues, and thereby raising more funds. When the first irrupted, it was said to by a few good years of food and increased population.

A guy tweeted this Mon., Jan. 29th:

19 comments:

Phil Slade said...

That sounds rather an odd comment, "the only owls we saw were on the water" but then I saw what you meant. That is serious cold, snow and ice you have but at least it brings the Snowys.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
You did pretty good under trying circumstances! What amazing birds they are. YAM xx

Olga said...

Oh, I would love to see Snowy Owls.

Christine said...

Thanks for sharing the photos, sounds like a wonderful experience, poor hubby though!

Nancy J said...

No wonder JB stayed in the car, a trip through all that crunchy ice would be perishingly freezing. Snowy owl, you did so well with those photos, they are the most beautiful of all owls, in my opinion.!! Check Google or You Tube Jenn, there is a video of a snowy owl near Oswego on Lake Ontario, taken on 23 January. He/she is bobbing on the ice .

Kay said...

Your hubby is an angel. Ummm... The owls hunt for ducks? No kidding!

William Kendall said...

Very clever birds!

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Oh gosh I love owls! I wish I could find them on hikes more often. It certainly looks cold there.

The Furry Gnome said...

Nice to see them even if they're not lose.

Red said...

Looks like a very cold ferry ride.

Powell River Books said...

You get to some really interesting places on your travels. - Margy

DUTA said...

It's interesting that despite the harsh weather conditions, people like you and hubby go out looking for owls and taking photos of them. Not easy, as owls are highly nomadic and sometimes aggressive.
You did a good job with the owls on water.

eileeninmd said...

Hello, awesome sighting of the Snowy owl. They are beautiful birds. It almost blends in with the snowy ice. Great collection of photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your day and weekend!

Linda aka Crafty Gardener said...

It was a good day outing.

carol l mckenna said...

Lovely wintry shots and distant photos of the Snowy Owl ~

Happy Weekend to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

Breathtaking said...

Hello!:) The Snowy Owl must be the most beautiful of all owls. I have only seen one once in a nature reserve, but would have braved the cold and icy conditions as you did, to try to photograph one in the wild. Nicely done!:)

RedPat said...

I had no idea that they hunted ducks! The only one i've seen was in Toronto in a park at Eglinton & Jane st several years ago and I was thrilled!

Judy Biggerstaff said...

Oh such a great sighting of the snowy owl. You are lucky to get these pics. Thanks for sharing them.

A Colorful World said...

What a great sighting! Wonderful shots of the owls and the icy floes.