At last, I had the chance to learn where and how to look for Snowy Owls around Calgary. Robert Berdan took me on a day-long expedition north and east of Calgary, driving rural roads and scanning light poles and fences for these gorgeous white birds.
Snowy Owls aren’t terribly easy to find. If the ground is covered in snow they blend in. If the ground is a mix of earth and snow, they still blend in! They have quite a large territory as well – as much as five square kilometers, so just because they are home, doesn’t mean we will see them.
It took about an hour to find our first two Snowy Owls, one male and one female, high atop some light poles. Neither was terribly interested in conversation though, taking off before we could get nearer than one light pole’s distance away. Still, it was a start.
There was another female Snowy Owl that morning, busy grooming. You can see that she is looking quite pleased with herself. We saw more females than males, the males being more solid white while the females have more patterning in their feathers.
I was amazed by the size of these birds and how large their wingspan is – up to 1.5 metres. No wonder they can cover so much distance with so little apparent effort. Only one bird, a female chose to pose on a fence post instead of a power pole. I think that is one of my favourite images. Late in the afternoon one more male showed up. He was happy to stare at me until a big truck rolled by disturbing us both.
I love the female on the fence. The photo is such a simple composition that it is very impactful. Also, just looked at the wolfdogs and Rango the coydog! Thank you for the valuable education!