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Brian Morin

📍 Map

Date taken: Feb 13 2023

Details: female, adult, outside normal range

Ottawa- There have been a few owls reported this winter but they have been extremely difficult to observe. They only become active after sunset and during the day they roost in evergreens like spruce, making them difficult to detect. This shot was taken once it had moved from its roost when the light was failing rapidly. The shots were at a very high ISO at a very low shutter speed on tripod. Even then I barely managed to keep it in focus. The bird was in a wooded area within the suburbs. I made multiple attempts for owls before finally locating this one.

Date uploaded: Feb 14 2023

Comments (2):
Chris: This story sounds like many a time when I went looking in and around Montreal. Sometimes very hard to detect, let alone photograph. Exceptional result given what you mentioned. I just got back from shooting in low-light wooded areas of Colombia, and the high ISO helped but is tricky to work with afterwards.
BrianMorin: It is a common issue with owls that only show after sunset. We appreciate working with Northern Hawk Owls when they are around.

Great Grey Owl (52)

Brian Morin

Canada (Québec)

📍 Map

Date taken: Mar 20 2022

Details: immature

There has been a minor irruption in the east with now well over a dozen birds being reported in recent weeks. However, they are notoriously hard to find, even when you know where one hangs out, and because they are primarily nocturnal they usually only show close to or after sunset.

Date uploaded: Mar 21 2022

Comments (4):
Chris: One of world’s iconic species, and unforgettable. Exceptional capture.
BrianMorin: We had been checking a forest edge for a bird that had been found in the area but it was a no show. We took a short walk in the woods and found it ready to hunt. What a beauty.

Great Grey Owl (52)

Brian Morin

📍 Map

Date taken: Mar 10 2022

Details: female, immature

Ottawa - There has been a minor irruption in the east along the St. Lawrence in Quebec and parts of Eastern Ontario. They have been very difficult to locate.

Date uploaded: Mar 11 2022

Comments (2):
Ahmad Shah: Nice job finding and photographing this magnificent Owl .
BrianMorin: A lovely young lady – one of my favourite birds.

Great Grey Owl (52)

Brian Morin

Details: immature

This bird eluded us for most of the winter but briefly reappeared in an area where we could observe it. The Great Gray is truly a woodland owl but likes to hunt the edges when it can. In this case it rarely came to the roadside. We identified it as a first year bird based on the pointed rather than rounded tail tips and pale rather than dark-tipped primaries. I last saw it early in January.

Date uploaded: Mar 25 2021

Great Grey Owl (52)

Brian Morin

Date taken: Jan 7 2021

Details: immature

The long awaited return of Great Gray Owls brought this bird to the area. Hopefully others will follow.

Date uploaded: Jan 13 2021

Great Grey Owl (52)

Brian Morin

Date taken: Apr 7 2019

Details: adult

Ottawa - After six failed attempts to be present when this bird showed, I was finally successful. It had a schedule which tended to be two to three days on and two to three days off and if you guessed wrong you'd be out of luck that day. Yesterday I guessed right. We worked with the bird for an hour at the end of the day. Each trip is 1 hr 45 minutes so it is a significant time commitment but with a result like this and a bird that you often have to back up from to shoot it was worth it. Onlookers have grown over the winter with up to 70 Saturday. We had about 20 yesterday.

Date uploaded: Apr 8 2019

Great Grey Owl (52)

Brian Morin

Date taken: Mar 14 2019

Details: adult

Ottawa - I don't usually post multiple shots of the same species but this photo shows an interesting aspect of GGOW biology. Note the slender branch the bird is perched on and that it is barely bending.The owl weighs only about 1.1 kg which does not seem to match its very large size. This is our largest owl but the bird is a big ball of feathers. By comparison, a Snowy weighs about 2 kg. The photo was taken on a tripod after sunset on a cloudy day with little light left. Very slow shutter speed.

Date uploaded: Mar 19 2019

Great Grey Owl (52)

Brian Morin

Date taken: Mar 12 2019

Details: adult

Ottawa- In flight this bird has a huge wingspan. This is the same bird as the other photo but taken later in the day so the plumage appears darker and browner.

Date uploaded: Mar 13 2019