There are special evenings in life. One of which was last night as I watched the full moon rise behind a Snowy Owl at the beginning of its evening hunt. The images are just one camera exposure each, not a combination of multiple images. Trying to get the moon and the owl both in focus was an extreme challenge. The slow shutter speeds I needed to utilize to capture enough light forced blurring difficulties as the moon is actually moving quite fast. The color of the moon changes as it rises in the sky because there is less atmospheric dust to shine through (As the moon rose I was changing my position relative to the owl to keep the moon and the owl in the same frame). Finally I have included the final image BECAUSE it is dark and demonstrates I do NOT use flash for night photography of owls.

My favorite photograph from last night is the third image. For over a year I have been trying to capture a Snowy Owl against the full moon rising. There is only about 20 minutes of effective photography time, and that assumes I have first found a Snowy Owl right before dark (and it stays in place) and then have totally clear skies and a full moon.

Courtesy of a pilot who frequently flies and in and out of the Superior Richard Bong Airport, I learned more about Snowy Owls … including this “dorky looking” bird that I watched last night at the same location. I always thought Snowy Owls were occasionally spooked by planes, but was I ever wrong!

This pilot told me that it is common knowledge at the Superior Airport amongst the pilots that as we move through February into early March as the snow depths lessen, he and his buddies often see Snowy Owls flying parallel to their planes next to the runways. Why? The owls know that the planes often scare up small mammals upon take-off and landings, and it is easy food. These owls are smart!

Non Dorky Snowy Owl in Superior Yesterday Evening at Sunset

Within the past 48 hours a new wave of Snowy Owls has arrived in NE Minnesota and NW Wisconsin … from Sax-Zim Bog to the North Shore to Ashland, Wisconsin. Better yet, I have seen my first male Snowy Owl! (see below). Neither the photo ops nor light has been great, but it is so neat to see a male owl (much, much whiter than the females). These two images were taken 14 hours apart. Hopefully this owl has set up a winter territory.