Great Snowy Owl

Posted by Kathe (Marquette, Michigan, United States) on 6 November 2008 in Animal & Insect.

After having a bad day, I decided to take a walk last night down by the lower harbor and Founders Landing. I didn't bring my camera because it was already dark, and I'm still learning to use it -- and night shots have never been my forté. As I got to Founders Landing, it started to rain. So I headed towards home, cutting through the Rosewood Walkway -- the same area where I photographed the raccoons last weekend.
As I approached the stairs to the walkway, I noticed something white on top of one of the buildings. At first, I thought it was some new vent or something they installed. As I was climbing the stairs, I realized it was a snowy owl. I tried capturing a few shots with my cell phone, but they didn't turn out at all. So I sat watching the owl -- and it watching me -- for about 10 or 15 minutes before calling my daughter to (quickly!) bring me my Nikon with the new zoom lens. I didn't want to leave, in case it was gone before I returned.
A few minutes later, Hayley arrived with my entire backpack of gear. (THANKS, HAYLEY!!!) She left so fast that she didn't even put on any shoes. What a nut! She sat watching me photograph the owl for a while before heading back home to get to bed. Shortly after that, a college student was bringing some trash to the dumpsters and stood watching the owl (and me photographing it) for a few minutes. He also tried using his cell phone's camera, but I just told him to give me his email address and I'd send some of my photos to him.
During all of this activity, the owl just sat there. Sometimes even taking a little snooze. Each time I was on my cell phone (calling Hayley, receiving a call from someone else, and calling my friend, Nancy, to tell her about what I was looking at and photographing), the silly bird seemed rather annoyed that I wasn't paying total attention to it. It'd start grooming itself or shifting its wait seemingly impatiently.
After about 45 minutes, it started raining again. Since I don't yet have a raincover for my camera, I decided to pack it into the backpack and head home (the backpack does have a raincover, thankfully). Needless to say, my bad day improved greatly with this experience.
As a side note...
I've lived in this area most of my life. As a kid, living about 4 or 5 miles outside of the city limits, we used to see and hear owls in our backyard quite often. But in the last 25+ years, I've only seen two, including this one. The other was a barn owl my friend, Yvonne (Juan) and I encountered on one of our hikes about 35-40 miles north of Marquette. It's a relief to know they're still around.
Shutterday: Bird is the Word

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