Snowy Owl on a park bench
by Judi Dressler
Title
Snowy Owl on a park bench
Artist
Judi Dressler
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
This Snowy Owl flew a long way from the Arctic, all the way to Colorado. In the Arctic, during a year where there are a lot of lemmings that the owls eat, the Snowy Owls will have lots of babies. Once these babies fledge the nest, they are now competing with their parents for the same food source, and this does not work well, so the young owls fly south looking for food. This is called an irruption and it happened this year. This year, many snowy owls have been spotted in Canada and along the northern US border states, and some owls have made their way even further south looking for food, including this one.in Colorado. They are typically hungry, and many of them will die due to not being able to find food. I sure do hope this one makes it. It certainly made my day, being able to see this incredibly beautiful owl.
From Cornell Labs: "The regal Snowy Owl is one of the few birds that can get even non-birders to come out for a look. This largest (by weight) North American owl shows up irregularly in winter to hunt in windswept fields or dunes, a pale shape with catlike yellow eyes. They spend summers far north of the Arctic Circle hunting lemmings, ptarmigan, and other prey in 24-hour daylight. In years of lemming population booms they can raise double or triple the usual number of young."
Photo taken on December 27th, in Colorado.
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Descriptive tags and keywords for this image include snowy owls, snowy, snow, white, owls, birds, park, bench, lake, ponds, fields, arctic, winter, bubo scandiacus, yellow, eyes, horned owl, strigiformes, wildlife, wild, raptors, colorado, photo, photography, and photograph, judi dressler.
Uploaded
December 28th, 2017
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Viewed 1,308 Times - Last Visitor from Cupertino, CA on 03/24/2024 at 3:28 AM
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Comments (19)
Kirill Rikart
The pristine white feathers of the owl create a stunning contrast against the dark wood, making it a portrait of ethereal beauty. The owl's gaze, wise and piercing, adds a touch of mystery to the scene, as if it holds the secrets of the winter landscape within its watchful eyes. This enchanting image is a poetic moment frozen in time, where the wild meets the urban, and nature's elegance finds an unexpected perch.
Tony Hake
Just fantastic, Judi! Such a thrill to have one of these so close to us. Featured in the Colorado Nature And Wildlife Photographers group.
Judi Dressler
Donna, thank you! Lol, I know just what you mean! This owl was pretty far away -- she's still in the area, so I may go back to see whether I can get some closer shots, but I hate to bug her too much...