Tag Archives: snowy owl

2013 Big Year Underway! Kind of…

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Terry| Leave a comment
Snowy Owl

A nice start to a "Photo Big Year", getting a Snowy Owl on January 1st! Click for a larger view.

I’ve never been a “lister”.  I’ve never been one of those birders whose obsession is their life list, their state list, their yard list, etc.  If you tell me a bird species, I can tell you whether I’ve seen it before, if I’ve photographed it, and where.  But I have no idea what my species “count” is, either for sight or photographs.

For background…in 2012, I did much less birding than I’ve done since I started birding in 2000.  Part of it was time and other issues, but a lot too is that it’s hard to get motivated to go out and take photos of the same species that I already have 100 photos of.  I did miss getting out in 2012 though, so have vowed 2013 would be different.  For motivation?  I am now starting a ‘Big Year’!! 

 For many outside the birding community, the term “Big Year” may likely bring to mind the recent movie with Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson, where 3 obsessed birders try to set the record for most North American bird species seen in one year.  That’s the general idea for me too, but modified significantly!  First of all, I’m calling it a “(Not so) Big Year”.  I’m not going nuts.  I’m not going to travel to all corners of the country, or even in South Dakota.  Secondly, it’s a “Photo” big year.  I simply plan to get out and see how many different bird species I can photograph in South Dakota in 2013, without turning it into an obsessive quest, ala what was seen in The Big Year movie.

I already can see it’s going to be fun!  Instead of watching college football all day on New Year’s, I instead went birding on the grasslands in the central part of the state.  While I normally would ignore most species that I already have plenty of photographs for, I found myself actually CHASING some common birds to try to get a 2013 photo.  Last year, I don’t think I would have thought twice about the scads of Ring-necked Pheasants, Horned Larks, or Lapland Longspurs I came across, but yesterday, it was fun trying to get a documented 2013 photo for even the “common” species.

A good start to the year!  The highlight was coming across a Snowy Owl towards the end of the day, definitely a nice one to get a photo of for a “Photo big year”.  I also managed photos of a Townsend’s Solitaire, a pretty uncommon site around here, and most of the  “winter” raptors that are found in the central part of the state at this time of year.  We’ll see where it takes me, and how many different species I can photograph this year!  Here’s the page where I’ll keep things updated…

The 2013 (Not So) Big (Photo) Year

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Incredible Snowy Owl Winter Continues

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
Snowy Owl Portrait

Another incredible day for Snowy Owls here in South Dakota. Some of them are incredibly tame, such as this guy, who I watched at very close range (obviously!) for quite a long time. He couldn't have cared less, and napped with his eyes closed for most of that time!!

In late December, I twice went down to the Lake Andes area in south-central South Dakota, to look for the incredible numbers of Snowy Owls being seen.  Both days were very memorable, and I saw around 30 different owls the one day, all in a relatively small area.  I really hadn’t been out birding since then, but took today off and went out to try my luck in the central part of the state.

Where I go in winter in the central part of the state is always incredible for raptors, and today was no exception.  I started near “Presho, drove north, through the Fort Pierre National Grasslands, and up to the area around Lake Oahe north of Pierre.  There were all the “usuals”…several dozen Rough-legged Hawks, quite a few Northern Harriers and Red-tailed Hawks, more Golden Eagles than I think I’ve seen in one day (maybe 15 or so?), and a handful of Bald Eagles, Ferruginous Hawks, and Prairie Falcons.  Also one Merlin.

Snowy Owl

Another Snowy, doing his "king of the roost" pose.

THAT part is a typical winter trip in that area.  But again, the story this winter continues to be the big numbers of Snowy Owls.   They weren’t concentrated like they were in the Lake Andes area back in December, but I still saw 7 different Snowy Owls, a number which in ANY year would be a truly awesome day for them.   They were scattered around, but in one spot near the shores of Lake Oahe, there were three, including 2 that were completely unconcerned about my presence.  One was sitting on a billboard, and after watching from a distance for awhile, I drove by, then parked RIGHT by the billboard.   For the most part he just kept on sleeping.  I watched him at very close range for quite some time…quite a treat to be THAT close to a wild Snowy, where you can see all the little details in his feathers, his brilliant yellow eyes (on the occasions he opened them!) and those massive, powerful talons.

Terrific day!  Certainly THE year folks will always remember for Snowy Owls!

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South Dakota Public Broadcasting – Snowy Owl Feature

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
Snowy Owl - South Dakota

One of the Snowy Owls in the SDPB show. This guy was easily the most cooperative of the owls I ran across this winter, as by the end, I was within the minimum focusing distance of my camera (12 feet), and he just sat there until I left.

Last night on “Dakota Life” on South Dakota Public Broadcasting, they had a 3 1/2 minute feature on the Snowy Owl “irruption” in South Dakota this winter.  Click here to watch.

The photos (not the video) used in the segment were all from a trip I took down to the Lake Andes area in south-central South Dakota in December.  Great, incredible trip, as I saw about 30 owls the one day.  They did a nice job talking about the owls in the state this winter, and the info provided by K.C. Jensen, professor up at SDSU, is really nice as well.

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Snowy Owls!

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Terry| 1 Comment
Snowy Owl

A Snowy Owl hunkered down from the wind, in the middle of a corn field.

I already have taken the week off between Christmas and the New Year.  But when my email keeps getting filled with reports of scads of Snowy Owls being found all over the state, how could resist tacking on one more vacation day to my little winter holiday?  A friend from work called me last night, saying that they’d found 20 Snowy Owls around the Lake Andes area (south-central South Dakota), so after dropping my son off at school this morning, that’s where I headed.

It’s about a 2-hour drive from where we live…but BOY was it worth it!  The owls were being found in a relatively small area, about 5 miles by 2 miles.  I started in that area, and within 5 minutes of arriving, I found a Snowy Owl sitting on top of a telephone pole.  That first Snowy Owl of the day ended up being by far the most cooperative of all the Snowy Owls I found today.  He just stared at me from his high perch as I stared back and took some photos.  Great, I thought!! Not only were the Owls easy to find, they also seemed to be very cooperative!!

Snowy Owl

A defiant Snowy Owl staring down from the top of a telephone pole.

Uh…not so fast.  The first part WAS true…the Snowy Owls WERE easy to find.  I ended up finding about 20 different owls today.  However, having the birds cooperate for the camera was entirely different.  For the most part, the problem was distance.  I’d be driving down a gravel road and see a spot of white in a field, about a 1/4 mile from the road.  Or I’d see a bird flying…about 1/4 miles from the road.  Birds were plentiful!  Birds right next to the road were not!  But if there’s one thing I’ve learned since starting bird photography, it’s patience. 

The individual birds tended to stay in their same general area all day.  I’d drive by, see a bird, come back 2 hours later, and it would still be in the same area, often still sitting in the same spot.  The birds were moving around enough though that by just driving around, every once in a while I’d come across a bird somewhat close to the road.  As the wind picked up in the afternoon, the birds started hunkering down on the ground, which made them tougher to spot, but also made them easier to photograph.  Twice I found a bird hugging the ground, trying to get out of the wind, and neither bird seemed to want to flush into that wind.  I was able to grab quite a few photos of those two birds.

Snowy Owl

Another Snowy Owl trying to stay out of the wind.

Roughly 20 different Snowy Owls, and I was able to get pretty good photos of 3 of them.  All in all, not too shabby a day!  In one day, I probably tripled the number of Snowy Owls I’ve seen in my life!  As I’ve said before, winter in South Dakota may be hell sometimes, but the birding in winter, especially for raptors, can be spectacular.

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If you ever want to visit South Dakota in Winter…

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Terry| Leave a comment
Dark-phase Gyrfalcon - Falco rusticolus

A dark-phase Gyrfalcon. Photo taken near Presho, South Dakota

If you ever want to visit South Dakota in winter…I’ve been working on my South Dakota Birding Hotspot page, and just added a page describing my favorite place to bird in winter, the area around Presho, South Dakota.

I won’t lie, it can be pretty damn bleak here in winter, and sometimes bird life seems pretty scarce.  That’s not a problem around Presho once the snow flies.   There’s an amazing abundance and variety of raptors in the area in winter, no doubt attracted by the scads of Ring-necked Pheasants in the area.  There’s a number of hunting operations in the area, some of which release captive-bred pheasants.  Thousands of dim-witted pheasants equals hundreds of raptors.

There’s nothing to get the blood pumping on a 20-degree below zero morning, than seeing a Snowy Owl or a Gyrfalcon!  If you’re looking for a “fun” trip this winter, give Presho a shot!

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