My First Great Horned Owl! aWEsome!

I have a few items jotted down on my bucket list. At the top, "Shoot an Owl!" (with my camera of course.) My mom loved owls! She was a farmers wife and Barn owls were always plentiful. On the day she died, that night when I climbed into bed, a complete sobbing wreck, it was the sound of an owl out side my window that comforted me through the night. Yup, I'm now obsessed with owls!

The other day I went for my run and out of the blue, decided to take a new path. Instead of taking the same old route, I turned and headed down through the fields. I decided I'd try and see if I could find my way to the rail trail just north of my house. After crossing over one field after another and trundling through a ditch or two, stopping to pick out a few accumulated burrs that had clung to my socks, I finally found my way to a place I hadn't been in years.

It felt good to be on this trail again. As I ran, I had Big Ben looming in the distance in front of me and the sight was beautiful. I probably had put in about four miles, when I decided to turn around and head home. On the way back however, something led me in a different direction. I decided to go all the way out, passing the first field I had originally come in from. I decided I would continue West and hit the main road and then travel South until I reached two additional fields I hadn't crossed over. That way I would get to cover more ground. Looking back now I think my mother was having a great influence on me from a different sphere.

I can't tell you how many Russian Olive Trees I passed that morning. The fact that I saw him at all is a sheer miracle, but as I was running I noticed a section of grass that had been flattened down. Something stopped me dead in my tracks and I was looking at that grass for no apparent reason at all, when suddenly I looked up and there he was sitting ever so still, frozen on a branch 15 feet in front of me. I nearly passed out and died!

I just stood there in a trance! It's not every day you run into an owl, especially a Great Horned! I didn't dare move. After five long minutes, I began to wonder if he were fake. Would someone stick a fake plastic owl in a tree? That would be more like my luck! Then I wondered if his back was to me. It was dark in the tree and all I could see was his silhouette. He looked so big. I decided I had to have some sort of picture, I slowly slipped my iPhone out of my pocket and pressed the button. That was hopeless. He was in the worst spot ever for lighting!

It was at that moment, I made an executive decision, and decided I had to run home for my SLR. I've never in my life made such good time getting home on foot. I flew in the door, grabbed my gear, jumped in the car, and drove like a crazy woman back to the rail trail! I mean seriously, what were the chances he would still be there? I hurried every chance I could. When I climbed out of the car, I set up my tripod, attached my camera and got all ready. I didn't want to scare him setting up all my gear right in front of him.

As I quietly crept up to the spot I had seen him, I was amazed he was still sitting there. I wondered if he was in a coma! I took the lens cap off my 28-300 zoom and extended it all the way out and looked in the glass. OH BABY!

Can I just tell you what a freaking thrill it was when our eyes met, it was better than any feeling I've ever had! Oh those eyes... WOW! I could have stared at him all day. I think I totally exhausted a 32 gig camera card. And then to realize he'd been sitting there looking at me the entire time. I can only imagine his thoughts!  And I could have stood there all day. I tried to call Jerel Olsen. He was not home. (sad sigh). Jerel is a master photographer. I knew absolutely nothing about what I was doing, me and my very first Great Horned Owl and I had a million questions. I was doing everything I could to get him sharp and with some light. I knew I needed sharp eyes! I just tried everything I've ever learned and then I prayed and chimped! It was rough! The sun was at his back. I fought with my settings. My choices were sky and trees blown out or the owl to dark to see. I have no filters and I haven't had a plethora of owls to practice on. Great Horned Owls just don't fly in and perch in front of me every day.

So here he is people, my best shot. It might not be that stupendous, but I'll take it. Just the encounter alone was worth a million bucks!

Shot at ISO 320 1/160 sec @ F5.6 (The background is a little blown out, but hey... I wasn't shooting in the most favorable conditions. I decided to take the owl over the background!