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Nov 20, 2020

An inspiring photo...

 

Photo by Bryan Kushner / Alamy Stock Photo

Snowy Owl ~ Oceanville, New Jersey

This above photo showed up on my computer screen a day or so ago as the daily photo feature provided by my online service provider, and I just had to reproduce it here, in my BarrytheBirder blog.   I hope to see a few Snowy Owls this winter in the flat sprawling Holland Marsh, in York Region.  There are usually two or three that show up each winter and in certain years, the owl irruption can produce dozens owls and of more than one species.   I remember several years ago approaching a group of birders on Dufferin Street in 'The Marsh' and they all suddenly pointed at me and hollered at me to look behind.   Before I could turn around, I felt this great spread of wings fly over, just inches above my head.   It was a Great Grey Owl.   I was thrilled.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder  

1 comment:

Robert Campbell said...

"Owl owl owl. He finally, late that summer, spots a Great Horned Owl at dusk in a dead elm by the fence line. Big, blunt, clumsy as a tombstone, she suddenly swoops across the field - lyric of ending. No one stands a chance."

...

"But in daytime can be made ridiculous as exiled potentates or nightmares. When crows discover a dozing owl they will often gather to caw in huge numbers, driving it to some other territory and diminishing its efficiency that night. Occasionally they fail to distinguish between nocturnal owls and those who eat lunch. they flock and caw around an unfamiliar Snowy Owl, recently arrived from tundra, who awakes, discovers herself in a fancy southern restaurant , spreads wings like a linen tablecloth - "
Words of Don McKay from Camber Selected Poems