Alberta Prairies
“Fortune favors the brave.”
This is my mantra as I hold a death grip on the steering wheel making my way down the highway. It’s early morning, still dark, -28C, blowing snow, and very icy roads. Not the best conditions to be out in but “fortune favors the brave” (or maybe, in my case, favors the foolish).
Just as the weather forecast had unlikely predicted correctly, the weather cleared as I arrived at my destination. My destination was, in fact, a huge area where Snowy Owls are “likely” to be during a few of the winter months here on the Alberta prairies. Knowing a general location is great but after that it’s like locating a snowball in a field of snow. That snowball could be close, miles away or, if your lucky, sitting on a photogenic fence post. It takes time, patience and perseverance to find one of these owls. If I had a dollar for how many times I thought I’d seen a Snowy Owl only to find out it is was a white plastic bag, a chunk of snow, or a white sign on a stick, I would be rich.
I admit to enjoying the process of locating owls as much as I do photographing them. It’s a bit of a roller coaster with highs and lows but, for me, it comes back to time, patience, and perseverance.
I located and photographed 10 unique individual Snowies on this trip as well as a beautiful Fox, a Horned Lark, and a few feisty Ravens. I have much gratitude for being able to spend time with each one of them.
