Memories and poor photos

Memories and poor photos

Sunrise off my deck, Ely Minnesota, Feb 21, 2018

An interesting event and observation as I was heading down my road near Ely the other day. We had gotten about 10 inches of fluffy snow on the weekend and another 4" that morning. A gray object plopped into the snow and I stopped to see what it was.

Gray owl, looking for something

He had no idea I was there, though I was 30' away stopped in my truck. Of course I grabbed my camera and tried to get some shots. I took some pictures as he looked up then dove back in.

Gray owl, looking for something in the snow
Gray owl, looking for something in the snow
Gray owl, looking for something in the snow

After a few seconds he took off and headed towards the woods. Then I saw the Snowshoe Hare bouncing into the brush. He must have popped out of the snow further away and ran. The owl tried to chase after it but with a five foot wingspan there was no way he was going where that rabbit just went.

Gray owl, looking for something in the snow

As I looked at these pictures later I found myself wishing I had a better camera... But at the same time I was wondering what I might have missed. Wondering if maybe, had I not been interested in getting the pictures and instead just observing, I might have had a more vivid memory to carry with me instead of a few poor quality photos.