Donna
I'm Falcon Crazy
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« on: 12-Feb-10, 06:54:46 AM » |
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SELKIRK, Manitoba — The big female snowy owl was perched at the top of an electrical pole as I eased the 300 mm lens out of the truck window.
The regal owl ignored us, seemingly studying the snow covered field to our right.
I pursed my lips and squeaked.
The big head swiveled to look and I pressed the shutter.
We had arrived at Stu McKay’s Cats on the Red Resort at the Lockport Dam on the Red River early that afternoon.
Stu, an avid bird and landscape photographer, suggested Fran and I head out to nearby Oak Hammock Marsh to look for snowy owls.
It didn’t take long. Fran was shooting a Nikon D60 DSLR with a 70-300mm zoom lens. I was using a Cannon D50 with a 300mm lens.
We made several exposures and then drove on. As we passed the Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Center I saw something sitting on a sign.
“What’s that?” I said while braking the truck.
“That’s the Interpretive center,” Fran said.
“No, that bird sitting on the sign,” I answered.
I threw the truck in reverse, backed up past the driveway and drove in, stopping about 50 feet from a brown owl.
Another car was driving out and I got off only two exposures before the owl flew.
I wasn’t even sure what kind of owl it was, but I thought it was a short-eared. Turns out it was.
For the next three days, Fran and I would ice fish for walleyes on the Red River with Stu.
With the sun shining on the first two days, we spent the afternoons driving around looking for owls.
Stu shoots a Canon D50 with a big 500 mm lens and has captured some magnificent photographs of birds and landscapes in his area.
“This is just a wonderful place for birders and bird photographers,” Stu says. We have northern hawk owls, snowy owls, short-eared owls, great grey owls, all rather common in the wintertime. In late April, early May, mid May and right on through the month of May when the birds are on their nest, it’s just unbelievable.
“This whole region is so alive with birds,” he says. “There are warblers, shorebirds, raptors of every description, and bald eagles and ospreys nest right here in this area.
“Canada has over 500 species migrating into here each year for nesting and Manitoba claims two out of every three,” he adds. “It is truly a mecca for bird watchers and nature photographers.”
There are lots of public lands near Selkirk where a variety of birds can be found and lots of different habitats. Birds Hill Provencial Park is one of them, just 10 minutes away from Stu’s lodge. It was here we photographed northern hawk owls.
The park is 22 square miles with a mix of aspen and oak forest with open prairies, spruce, bog areas and a lake.
Fran and I will be back next spring to do more photography while headquartered at Cats on the Red.
“I’d be happy to accommodate birders,” Stu says. “I’d provide maps and information, but there would be lots of times, because of my love for photography, I would say, ‘Lets go out and get you acquainted with the area. Walk the beaches of Lake Winnipeg. It’s an absolute paradise for birds.’”
On our last afternoon of photography we went back to Oak Hammock Marsh. We soon found the female snowy perched in a tree about a quarter mile off the road. There was an observation tower near her so we walked out to it and made our photographs of the owl sitting only about 75 feet away.
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