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The Search for Alberta’s Snowy Owls
Yesterday I spent the better part of the day searching for Alberta’s snowy owls.
I’d been invited to join a photography friend who has an abiding love of nature and all things related to photography. The plan was to meet in northern Calgary and head east into the prairies. It wasn’t any more detailed than that.
I learned a lot about the snowy owl yesterday.
The piercing eyes of a snowy owl
The snowy owl loves the prairies – and in particular man-made structures like telephone poles, irrigation structures, fence posts… you get the idea. And because they blend into the snow and fields and can only be identified as a lump – and that’s if you’re lucky, the easiest way to find them is to drive the back roads checking out telephone poles for unusual forms. That’s how we spotted three of them. The other was on an irrigation structure and I wouldn’t have noticed it unless I’d had snowy owl spotting experience.
Can you spot the snowy owl?
Probably an immature snowy owl
The snowy owl is blessed with excellent eyesight and great hearing so they are superb hunters. They have the patience of Job and can even find prey under snow cover. So with their sharp talons the lemmings and mice don’t have a chance.
Very sharp talons
An adult snowy owl can eat 1,600 lemmings in a year – that’s over four per day. They’re also happy to dine on mice, other small rodents, rabbits, birds and fish.
A snowy owl leaving its perch
A snowy owl in flight
Snowy owls are active during the day. This makes them easier to find than you’d think. But still it takes a lot of patience and a lot of driving. We didn’t see our first owl for at least an hour. The next three were seen within 15 minutes of each other – about four hours later. They’re skittish so it’s hard to get great shots. Some of those amazing snowy owl shots you see – not the ones on this blog but the truly outstanding shots you might see – are helped along by the release of mice on the photographer’s part. All of my shots were taken either inside or beside the car. I don’t own a long lens but my friend Barry was able to lend me his 400 mm one or I wouldn’t have got the shots I did.
Although I didn’t get the amazing National Geographic kind of snowy owl photos I wanted, I did enjoy the scenery throughout the day. Driving the backroads of Alberta is hardly a hardship in the winter especially on a sunny, blue sky kind of day.
Here’s a look at the kind of countryside where we were searching for snowy owls.
Fields glowing in the morning light
The back roads of Alberta’s prairies
Abandoned home on the prairies
The desolate but beautiful back roads on the prairies
A very wintry scene
It looks colder than it is
Now an owl but at least it was wildlife
Beautiful winter prairie sky
The sky is getting too dark to look for owls
Here are some facts about the snowy owl.
- Snowy owls breed on the Arctic tundra. Females lay between 3 and 11 eggs.
- The average life span in the wild is 9½ years.
- They have a wingspan of 1.3 to 1.5 meters (4.2 to 4.8 feet).
- Snowy owls weigh 1.6 to 3 kilograms (3.6 – 6.5 pounds).
- Snowy owls hunt during the day and night.
Have you ever seen a snowy owl in the wild?
Of note is the fact we also saw snow buntings, redpolls and a shrike.
For more travel inspiration check out the photos of other travel bloggers on Nancie’s Budget Travelers Sandbox website.
Leigh McAdam
HikeBikeTravel
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About Hike Bike TravelAvid world traveler. Craves adventure - & the odd wildly epic day. Gardener. Reader. Wine lover. Next big project - a book on 100 Canadian outdoor adventures.
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43 Responses to The Search for Alberta’s Snowy Owls
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About
I’ve been all over the world – to all continents but Antarctica and to a grand total of 53 countries. I’ve always got some sort of an adventure planned – even if it’s only a weekend. I thrive on change and travel provides that.
Feel free to email me at
leighmcadamtravels at gmail dot com
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As usual, your pictures are beautiful! I think owls are the coolest birds. We learned a lot about them while in Yellowstone. Very interesting!
Debbie Beardsley @ European Travelista recently posted..European Dreaming in 2013
@Debbie It was my first time seeing a snowy owl in the wild yesterday and actually very exciting. I think they’re a beautiful bird.
@Debbie I think because it’s a rare event for most of us to see owls they’re even more special.
Your photos showed the prairies wonderfully (I have never been there). I was just thinking “Hey aren’t owls nocturnal” when you told us they were not!
budget jan recently posted..From Marrakech to the Dunes of Erg Chebbi (Part 2)
@Jan Snowy owls are I believe the only owls that are out there hunting during the day though they do some hunting at night too. The prairies are an underrated destination.
I love owls! I have seen a snowy owl in Arctic Finland; they are such majestic creatures. Fantastic photos that you captured of them!
Jennifer recently posted..Exploring Lake Mývatn with Saga Travel
@Jennifer I’m hoping to run into more snowy owls this summer when I’m up on Baffin Island. They are stunning looking birds.
Leigh, once again your photos are absolutely stunning!! I am back near the ocean again but these prairie shots remind me how much I loved living on the flat land.
Gillian @OneGiantStep recently posted..Should We Have Skipped The JR Rail Pass?
Thanks for your great comment Gillian. It was drop dead gorgeous on the prairie yesterday. But I think unless you’re a farmer or a worker in the oil patch you probably don’t go out to explore it and when the lighting is right it’s magical.
@Gillian I appreciate the simple beauty of the prairie. I don’t think I would want to live on a remote farm but I do understand the appeal. I miss the ocean – so hard to have it all.
That prairie looks absolutely stunning. Leigh, you just keep providing some of the best shots and narratives — keep ‘em coming!
Jackie Smith recently posted..TP Thursday: Did You See That?!
@Jackie Thanks for that confidence boosting comment.
Some absolutely incredible photo’s! So inspiring…
Ash Clark recently posted..The Cappadocia Series: Pigeon Valley and Uchisar Castle
Thanks Ash.
Gorgeous creatures, snowy owls. I’ve only seen them in captivity. Also, the prairie shots looks fantastic – desolate and beautiful, like you say. Reminds me of the beginning of the film Fargo, miles and miles of snowy, straight roads.
Sophie recently posted..Scotland Street, Edinburgh
@Sophie The miles of straight roads make it easier to see the owls as you stop at an intersection and look for a blob on a pole. And there is barely a car that goes by.
I think I saw a snowy owl in Puglia once – at least it looked white in the dark summer night. But of course I didn’t catch it on camera. These photos are incredible.
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@Mette My guess – though I’m no snowy owl expert at ALL – is that it must have been a different sort of owl or it was off course and should have been in the Arctic in Finland or Norway.
So beautiful… I love owls too…
Muza-chan recently posted..A Japanese Song per Day: Hikawa Kiyoshi – Hoshi Kuzuno Machi
@Muza-chan They are such beautiful birds and easy to love.
As usual, your photos are stunning, Leigh. Looks like you have less snow there than normal for this time of the year and you mentioned that it looked colder than it is. Wonder what impact that has on the snowy owl.
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@Marcia I have just come inside from shoveling heavy snow for an hour and I am only half way done. We’d had A LOT up until XMAS and then two weeks with none. I think it’s actually a heavier year this year despite appearances.
Your photos of the prairies are beautiful Leigh. How exciting for you to capture photos of the elusive snowy eagle. it sounds as though you were very clever to even spot one let alone take a photo.
jenny@atasteoftravel recently posted..Istanbul’s Aya Sofia Museum
@Jenny Trust me – it was a learning experience and I never would have spotted one without the help of my photographer friend who knew what he was doing.
Your photos are incredible. Both the snowy owls and the scenery. Thank you for sharing your adventure.
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@Karen And thanks for the compliment.
Such beautiful, snowy photos! I am bookmarking this page to show my 6 year old today when she gets home from school. She recently read a book about the snowy owl and is obsessed with them!
Jen recently posted..#DenverSugar Tour
@Jen I think kids adore owls and I hope your six year old isn’t disappointed today.
Leigh,
The images are beautiful, but as a birder I have an issue with baiting. Baiting can be very detrimental to birds for a variety of reasons–exposing them to predators, spreading disease, etc. Here are two excellent posts on the topic of baiting: http://featheredphotography.com/blog/2011/08/16/baiting-a-matter-of-definition-and-ethics/
and
http://www.onthewingphotography.com/wings/2012/12/16/what-is-wrong-with-this-coyote-picture/
Please consider passing this on to your photographer friend.
Best, Rachel
@Rachel My photographer friend is fully against baiting too!!! We found our owls by driving by and taking photographs from either inside the car or beside the car. I think my description needed improvement and I’ve done that. It’s just a thrill to see a snowy owl and I was still pleased with the less than perfect photos I got.
Being a huge Rush fan, I have always been a huge fan of snowy owls ever since their seminal “Fly by Night” album and song, which has a huge flying snowy owl adorning the album cover. This post has got me in the mood to hear the album again.
Incredible shots of a beautiful bird. We actually had a lot of snowy owls come down all the way to Illinois and Wisconsin last year. Problem is I am too busy skiing whenever there is snow on the ground. I need to come up to Canada to ski and take a day off and search for snowy owls.
Traveling Ted recently posted..Anaconda envy in the Iwokrama Rainforest, Guyana
@Ted I love how the snowy owl is intertwined with a band for you. I put aside a full day just for the owls – and since there are never any guarantees you’ll see one I was pretty darned happy that we got four. It’s hard to do it all Ted. You could head to the Arctic too in the summer. I’ll be hiking on Baffin Island in the Arctic so hoping to see them again there.
I love the photo of the low-flying owl.
Margaret recently posted..Ode to the sopaipilla
Thank you Margaret.
These pictures remind me so much of the owls on Harry Potter
You’ve captured them so beautifully and lucky you for seeing them in the wild. Love the pictures, Leigh! I will need to show these to my wildlife loving kids.
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Love the photos-birds and scenery. The scenery really reminds me of driving around Iowa.
santafetraveler recently posted..Albuquerque: Hotel Andaluz where past meets future
@Billie I’ve driven Iowa in the winter and would agree. In the right light it’s beautiful.
Birds are not easy to photography, especially when you’re looking for pretty much white on white
You did great. Love the shot of the abandoned house.
Nancie recently posted..Finding the True Flavours of Tenerife
@Nancie For a first pass with a long lens I was happy. And that abandoned house had a little personality of you ask me.
Snowy owls, as the name suggests, looks so snowy and beautiful. Amazing photographs as always, Leigh.
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Thank you Salika.
Seriously you are too hard on yourself …..”I didn’t get the amazing National Geographic kind of snowy owl photos I wanted” …..they are stunning photos as usual.
Tracey – Chronic Adventures recently posted..Warning: Your Travel Blog Could be Under Serious Scrutiny
@Tracey – Thank you. For a first pass with a long lens they were OK.