Snowy Owls in Alberta and How to Find Them
One weekday in January I spent the better part of the day searching for snowy owls in Alberta. 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 towards Rosebud and Drumheller. While it wasn’t any more detailed than that, I ended up learning a lot about snowy owls in Alberta.
The best time to look for snowy owls in Alberta is between November and April.
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How do you find snowy owls in Alberta?
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.
Snowy owls are superb hunters
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.
Lemmings are a mainstay of their diet
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.
When are snowy owls active?
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.
Please never put out food for the snowy owls. That is not an ethical way to get the photograph.
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. Of course we did not do that!
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.
The Alberta countryside where we searched for snowy owls.
Snowy owl facts
- Snowy owls breed on the Arctic tundra. Females lay between 3 and 11 eggs.
- The average life span in the wild is 9.5 years.
- They have a wingspan of 1.3 to 1.5 m (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.
Of note is the fact we also saw snow buntings, redpolls and a shrike while driving the backroads of Alberta near Drumheller.
Specifics on where to look for snowy owls in Alberta
If you don’t want to drive all over eastern Alberta and want to focus your efforts near Calgary follow these directions.
Head east on McKnight Boulevard. Continue as it becomes Township Rd. 250. Drive for approximately 24 km and turn left onto Range Rd. 263. Then the fun begins. Drive the north-south roads between Highway 564 and the Trans-Canada Highway, scanning fields, fenceposts and man-made structures for snowy owls.
For more information about birding in Calgary and Alberta visit the Bird Nerds website.
Further reading on things to do in Alberta
- Where to Go Snowshoeing in Banff National Park
- 10 BEST Winter Hikes in Canmore & Nearby
- 8 Things to do in Kananaskis Country in Winter
- Nordegg, Alberta – An Undiscovered Gem in the Rockies
- Ice Walks in Alberta – 4 Unforgettable Experiences
Click on the photo to bookmark to your Pinterest boards.
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 – Thank you. For a first pass with a long lens they were OK.
Snowy owls, as the name suggests, looks so snowy and beautiful. Amazing photographs as always, Leigh.
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 For a first pass with a long lens I was happy. And that abandoned house had a little personality of you ask me.
@Billie I’ve driven Iowa in the winter and would agree. In the right light it’s beautiful.
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.
I love the photo of the low-flying owl.
Thank you Margaret.
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.
@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.
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 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.
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.
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 I think kids adore owls and I hope your six year old isn’t disappointed today.
Your photos are incredible. Both the snowy owls and the scenery. Thank you for sharing your adventure.
@Karen And thanks for the compliment.
Some absolutely incredible photo’s! So inspiring…
Thanks Ash.
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.
@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.
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.
@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.
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 I’m hoping to run into more snowy owls this summer when I’m up on Baffin Island. They are stunning looking birds.
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 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.
That prairie looks absolutely stunning. Leigh, you just keep providing some of the best shots and narratives — keep ’em coming!
@Jackie Thanks for that confidence boosting comment.
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.
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.
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!
@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.
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 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.