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Jim Doty |
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Great Gray Owl, Whitefish Point, Michigan |
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Whitefish Point in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is a great birding site in the spring and fall for migrating birds. When I arrived I check the log for sightings and found an entry for a Great Gray Owl. I headed for the beach and away from where all the photographers were. I searched the trees along the beach and finally spotted the owl. I worked my way ever so slowly towards the owl with a non-direct approach. I avoided eye contact as much as possible. I took my first photo at a distance of about 60-70
feet. After an hour and a half of a careful approach, I was 10 feet away and took the above photo. After taking a number of photos in which I had to wait each time for the unconcerned owl to look my way, a
birder came quickly down the path and stopped about 50-60 feet from the owl. The owl immediately became nervous. The birder didn't spot the owl at first and tried to see what my camera lens was pointing at.
When he spotted the owl he grabbed quickly for his binoculars - too quickly. The owl was gone in a flash. It was an interesting lesson in the right and wrong way to approach wary wildlife. The owl was
unconcerned with my presence a few feet away, and concerned enough to take off at the rapid movements of a birder much farther away than me. |
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June 26, 2000 |
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