Great Grey Owls

These owls have been by far, one of my most favorite birds to photograph. They are fearless, resourceful, breathtaking and awesomely fierce. One of the lightest owls by weight yet the largest by overall size, watching these hunters for several days taught me a lot about the lengths that parent owls go to in order to feed their young. One of the highlights of the trip was when I wasn't even looking for an owl - just wandering through the woods, exploring the back-country. I looked to my right and nearly fell over - a huge female great grey was staring me down eye-level. Even though I acted fearful, she was not the least bit fazed - I slowly backed up several feet trying to give her space, but could only go so far due to thick brush. I was trapped until she decided to move - we spent at least ten minutes watching each other in silence. I'll never forget the look in her eyes. She suddenly honed in on something, her behavior changed to looking at me very strangely. She suddenly flew directly at me - I thought she was going to take my head off! She dropped abruptly at my feet, (at my FEET), catching a vole. She gave me a very possessive stare, which was probably only around thirty seconds but felt like eons. Once she killed her meal, she calmly flew back up to her perch, then away. I'll never forget that experience, and forever cherish my time with this sensitive species.