An Obsession With Owls

It's been a whopping seven months since my last post! After leaving Banff (again) back in March, I've struggled to find time to get out shooting, let alone blog about recent encounters. I thought I'd try and make up for lost time with a post about a new favorite subject of mine, owls.

I photographed my first ever owl in October of 2011, almost exactly one year ago today. I began looking for a Great Grey Owl out on the prairies near Cochrane, and eventually after three long drives I found one.

Since then, I've spent many hours looking for owls both in Canada and back here in the UK. This new obsession has grown stronger with each encounter, and now I'm lucky enough to have spent time with eight different species of owl!

These species include the Great Grey Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, Snowy Owl, Barred Owl, Short-Eared Owl, Little Owl, Tawny Owl and Barn Owl.

So without further ado, here's a selection of photos to sum up a great year of unbaited, wild owl photography. Enjoy!


(click on an image to enlarge)

Great Grey Owl during autumn snowfall (October, 2011) Cochrane, Alberta, Canada

Great Grey Owl portrait (November, 2011) Cochrane, Alberta, Canada

Male Snowy Owl in strong wind (December, 2011) Alberta prairies, Canada

Male Snowy Owl in flight (December, 2011) Alberta prairies, Canada

Female Snowy Owl in her habitat (January, 2012) Alberta prairies, Canada

Female Snowy Owl in flight (December, 2011) Alberta prairies, Canada

Female Snowy Owl on Christmas Day (December, 2011) Alberta prairies, Canada

Northern Hawk Owl (January, 2012) Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Short-Eared Owl in flight (March, 2012) Aust Warth, England

Short-Eared Owl hunting near Severn Bridge (March, 2012) Aust Warth, England

Short-Eared Owl hunting (March, 2012) Aust Warth, England

Little Owl in nest hole (April, 2012) Cardiff, Wales

Little Owl chick taking a nap (June, 2012) Heritage Coast, Wales

Little Owl chick in stone wall (July, 2012) Heritage Coast, Wales

Tawny Owl chicks in woodland (May, 2012) Cardiff, Wales

I've just got back from a trip to Sri Lanka and India, and although it was more of a holiday than a photography trip, I've still got loads of photos to sort through. Hopefully I'll be able to get most of the keepers edited in the next week or two ready for another post, don't hold your breath though!

If you can't wait for this post, I've put a few shots from this recent trip on my facebook photo page here: Cai Priestley Photography

You can also message me via the photo page or website (www.toothandclawphotography.com) if you have any questions or if you're interested in ordering a print.


Thanks for reading!

Cai