Bird Dream Come True

     In my yard there is a treehouse/deer blind that the previous owner had put up.  Early this afternoon as I was walking past the sliding glass door in the kitchen I noticed that the stovepipe on the treehouse was looking a little crooked.  After a brief moment I realized that was no stovepipe, it was a freaking Snowy Owl. Bird Dream come true.

  Research  shows that dreams prepare you for situations by mixing past memories with concerns dwelling in your subconscious,   I've had the 'Snowy Owl in the Yard' dream many times over the past few years.  In these dreams the camera can't be found, the battery is dead, the lens is malfunctioning or just won't stay attached to the camera as the bird flies away. As a result of these nightmares I carry a fully charged spare battery in the pocket of my hoodie at all times and always keep the camera handy. 

   The lessons learned from the bird dreams did not come into play as the Arctic interloper  turned out to be very cooperative.  It perched on the treehouse from the time I spotted it at 1:20PM and was still there when I left for work 5 hours later.  A couple of hours into the Snowy's visit I mentioned to my wife " I hope I'm not dreaming." She asked "I'm in your dreams?"  I told her "Sure just not as often as  Snowy Owls". 

   As the owl sat practically motionless the squirrels and chipmunks continued to scurry through the yard,  But this regal predator did not escape the observant eyes of the neighborhood crows. 

Ducking the Crows

    During the photo shoot I had two windows in the dining room open in order to have different angles through the branches.  In the photo below the owl is staring down my cat Leo, who was at the other window  taking in the breeze and contemplating a 12 foot jump to freedom. 

Keeping an eye on the yellow-eyed predator in the window,

Staring down the barrel of my 500 mm Canon

If a Snow Leopard could fly......

Snowy Owl Video


  Can't wait to employ the lessons learned from the Painted Bunting dreams.