There was a report last week of a Snowy Owl out at the Great Salt Lake,so I have been spending as much time as possible out patrolling the shores and marshes around the lake,hoping to spot a Snowy. This guy is compensation for my efforts,and confirmation my eyes are keen and my technique is sound. Its a big amount of land to cover,and most of it is inaccessible or off limits, but eventual a Snowy is bound to show up somewhere this winter. I hope I get as good of view of one as I did of this guy.
An adult male Mexican spotted owl and his two fledglings we found on our survey posed nicely for the photo. I seriously need to invest in a telephoto lens: this 60 mm isn't cutting it for bird photos.Mexican spotted owls are listed as threatened. Unfortunately, they habituate to humans easily which only makes it more likely that they'll run into trouble. For that reason, I'm not allowed to say where these have been nesting.