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Snowy Owl

Bubo scandiacus

Description:

This is one of the largest species of Owl with a wingspan of 49–59 in and on average it is the heaviest Owl in North America weighing 3.5 to 6.6 lb.

Habitat:

Snowy Owls breed in the Arctic Tundra and winter south through Canada.

Notes:

After seeing a Snowy Owl on the 11th of Feb I was lucky enough to find a different bird on the 13th. This Owl was much less heavily barred. I have been informed that we still know very little about aging, sexing and plumage variations of Snowy Owls so I won't make a guess as to whether this is a male or female bird...

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16 Comments

ianmaton
ianmaton 11 years ago

Thanks for sharing the poem Patty. At one point the Owl swooped down to the snow not more than 20 feet away from me. At this point it was too close and moving too fast to photograph with my 400mm lens but it was an incredible sight!

patty
patty 11 years ago

So nice it made me wonder if someone had written a poem for such a beautiful bird. And, found one =)

Snowy Owl

Out of the great, green, grove of trees,
In the darkness of the night;
The snowy owl came sllenty by,
A graceful poem in flight.

Out of the shadows of the dark,
When the day is finished and done;
The swift, hurried flight of the owl takes place,
Out on its midnight run.

Out of the great, green, grove of trees,
As fast as any clock can go,
The wings beat hard and fast,
And rustles the fallen snow.

The snowy owl, a prince of a bird,
It's dominance reigns supreme;
Out of the blackness that covers me,
Out of my thoughts and dreams.

Out of the great, green, grove of trees,
It glides with a mystic wing;
Out of the night that swallows it,
To see it, would make your heart sing.

By David Lessard
(In: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/snowy-owl... )

patty
patty 11 years ago

Amazingly beautiful owl!!!! Wonderful! Thank you for sharing the great picture too ianmaton =)

Liam
Liam 11 years ago

Incredible!

Wendy Clapham
Wendy Clapham 11 years ago

Beautiful!

gatorfellows
gatorfellows 11 years ago

very nice :)

ianmaton
ianmaton 11 years ago

Thanks for the kind comments. Just to add, In general male birds have more white than females so this may well be male bird and my earlier sighting a female but there are exceptions to this rule so hard to be certain.

KrantiAzad
KrantiAzad 11 years ago

awesome !

Carol Snow Milne 2
Carol Snow Milne 2 11 years ago

This one looks so different and extra white than your other flying owl. Matches snow perfectly!

Braulio Rivas Tapia
Braulio Rivas Tapia 11 years ago

Breathtaking capture!
U should put it on the mission: Mimetic Animals of the World!

Carol Snow Milne 2
Carol Snow Milne 2 11 years ago

Wonderful!

ianmaton
ianmaton 11 years ago

Thanks all. Yes, I've been very lucky with Snowy Owl sightings this week.

Bas
Bas 11 years ago

Wow!! Really nice spotting!

felipeche72
felipeche72 11 years ago

Magnifique oiseau, super shoot, félicitation

AshleyT
AshleyT 11 years ago

You must feel so lucky to see such beautiful birds!!

Micky55
Micky55 11 years ago

Gorgeous

ianmaton
Spotted by
ianmaton

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Spotted on Feb 13, 2013
Submitted on Feb 14, 2013

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