Another Great Gray Owl

[Tony S]

Here's the guy that was hanging around me during deer season. It was so foggy when I took these that you could not see more than 30 yards across any of the clearings, but up close and personal they were some what clear.

 

[fiznatty]

Great shots. I particularly like the close-up profile. This one seems to have slightly darker plumage than the great grays I've seen. Pretty striking.

Max

 

[retief]

Very Nice! Great job. What part of the state did you discover this one?

I have not gotten a Great Gray, nor even seen one in the wild, but I'd sure like to add one some day.

Just haven't gotten to the areas they inhabit. They sure are large, and like all owls, fascinating.

 

[Tony S]

Thanks for the comments. He was probably looking a bit darker because it was so foggy that everything was wet, I have a few shots of him shaking the water off and preening in a snag.

Bill, I got him over in the southeast corner of the state in the Umatilla National Forest. If you are looking at a map it's due west of the little town of Anatone in the area of Forest Service roads 43 and 1405, the closest actual land mark would be Little Butte.

It hung around quite a while moving to different trees around me, I must have looked like a really huge tasty mouse to him. lol

Shaking off some water...

Fluffing up on a snag...

Giving me his "mean" look...

This is uncropped with no editing done to it, it was really foggy. The tree line was about 30 feet behind it but you could only make out the first tree in the fog.

 

[squirl033]

great shots, Tony! especially like the first one with the soft bokeh behind the owl, framed in the wet branches. love the clarity and the soft, dimly lit backgrounds...