Last Sunday I was able to find a Snowy Owl in McLean County.  Both the landowner and the fellow photographer asked not to share the location of this bird.  So I didn’t.  I believe this to be the same bird and moved to Gridley and now El Paso.

SUPER HEAVY CROP!

This bird’s location has been shared on eBird.   This bird is in the middle of a 1.5 mile by 2 mile plot.

The survival rate of these young juvenile birds is less than 40%.  The Snowys up north have had an abundance of food, so instead of laying 1 or 2 eggs, they are laying as many as 5 or 6. This is forcing young birds to come further south in search of food. My advice is don’t leave your car. use binoculars or a spotting scope. If you want photos, leave us to one of us professional photographers. I have over $20K in my camera and lens. If you are lucky enough to see one stay in your car and enjoy God’s beauty!

Want to learn more about the irruption of Snowy Owls.

I also found out that all the Snowy Owls in Lee County last year where trapped from O’Hare airport and relocated there by the Illinois Department Of Natural Resource.

I feel very blessed to be able to bring these photos to people that might have never been able to see them on their own!

If we respect these Snowy Owls and don’t harass them they could stay around until end of March.  Feel free to e-mail or text me any sightings.

Be safe, Happy Birding, Be respectful of the birds and landowners property!

Kent

I have received 4 different reports of people and friends seeing snowy owls in McLean County.  McLean County is one of the larger counties in Illinois.  These are people I trust, so I have been checking them out when time and daylight allows.  Yesterday, I saw high resolution photos of the male owl, so I knew it was on.  Almost a full 3 months earlier than I found them last year.

I blasted off this morning to find a 24-30 inch tall bird with 4 foot wingspan and weighing in around 3.5 pounds.  Sounds like a needle in a hay stack, but yet I was able to find them last year.

Struck out this morning!  Two hours of driving country roads sneaking up on anything white that looked out of place.  I can tell you that McLean County has some serious trash problems.

My first stalk:

Ended up being a half buried ice cream bucket!

I have to believe people driving by must get a real chuckle out of a 240 LBS fat guy in full Carhartts doing the belly / sniper crawl across a muddy field with 15K of camera equipment cradled in his elbows.

Second stalk turned up to be a grocery bag.  These guys flopping in the wind look really good from 1/2 mile!

Once you get close enough to put the lens on it, and find out it is trash, you just stand up, shake your head and walk back to the car.

Finally!  I spotted one with my binocular! Only about 1/3 the way across a 1 mile square.

No stalk, the lady who shared location doesn’t want this bird to feel any pressure as he has been there 5 days now.  We are trying to keep him off ebird.org since he is a rare male.  I watched him from the car for 20 minutes.  Then he few to a fence row in the middle of the square and landed on a post.  This next shot was crazy long.  I stacked my 1.4 and 2.0 teleconverters together and paired on my trusty 500mm bring effective range of 1400mm and f11 I think.  Manual focus of course.  I could not see this bird with my naked eye at this range.  When I go back I am taking my golf range finder to measure the yardage.  I would guess it to be over 600 yards.  It was longer than most par fives I play.

I drove the square to see if I could get closer from other side.  When I came back he was gone.  I found him in the next square to the North and a pickup truck was watching him.

The guy got out of his car with his smart phone and started walking straight towards the bird.

I got one good shot before the guy got too close and forced him to fly.  I had the camera set in full “bird in flight” mode knowing he was going to launch.

Knew it!  Too much lens and clipped his wings, but you get a good view of feather covered feet and talons.

He few about 10 telephone post, so after I scolded the guy for getting out of his car, I rolled up to him again and got a couple more full frame shots.  Not much background with the grey sky.  Not a big fan of sitting pole shots, but hey, I found a Snowy Owl.

Watched him for another 10 minutes, and decided I would head home.  I opened my sun roof and idled right under him.  Needed a shorter lens.  He was keeping a watchful eye on me.  I told him goodbye and headed home.Very cool birds.  I love their eyes, and their feet!  Hopefully this guy will hang around and I can spend more time with him in better light and maybe get some flight shots of him hunting.

Last years snowy owl post:

https://kentjarrett.com/snowy-owls/

https://kentjarrett.com/snowy-owls-of-lee-county-illinois/

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Thanks for stopping by!
Kent

I started my day at 3:45 AM.  I wanted to be at my Snowy Owl spot at day break.

I had never really shot a sunrise or landscape with my 500mm prime.  I had already found my first owl and was waiting for enough light to photograph it in.

The second owl almost attacked me when I got out of the car to setup on her.

Not sure what I love more, their EYES or their FEET?

After the first shot, I took the 500mm prime off and went the rest of interaction with this female with my 70-200mm.  She allowed me to spend about 45 minutes with her. It was something very special to get to connect and interact with nature.  This was yet another life changing moment, and ranks right up their with my Smoky Mountain Bear and 3 cubs.

Shot at 700mm, 500mm + 1.4 teleconverter.

Posted this one for a better foot shot.  Does that mean I have a foot fetish?

One of the next two will be printed and hanging on a wall in my home soon.

See Kent, I can be an Eagle too!

At least 4 Snowy Owls found and photographed.  Couldn’t really determine if the 5th owl was the same owl I was following flying or a new owl.

Commercial recap:  3:45 AM wake up + watched sunrise + 280 miles + $57.50 in gas + 9 hours in a car + FULL Frame Snowy Owls photos = PRICELESS!!!!!!

Not sure if the Snow Owls will be back in winters to come, but at least I got to photograph these really cool birds.  They weren’t even on my bucket list, but got to cross them off non the less.

Not sure what March will bring with both my Eagles and Owls moving out.  Hopefully it will be warm enough to play some golf soon!

Next up in April will be the Masters Golf Tournament and 4 days in Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP).

Don’t forget most of the photos on this site are for sale.  Enjoy what you read and the photos? Subscribe to be notified of future posts via email by either clicking the Follow button at the bottom or the Subscribe section on the right!  Or feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by!
Kent

It always sadden me a little when I come to realize that my beloved Bald Eagles are leaving rivers of Illinois and headed back North.  It was a great year, 9 trips to the Mississippi, and over 8500 photos still to edit.

To fill the void, I took a chance and started looking for Snowy Owls.  The extreme cold along with the population explosion has forced Snowy Owls farther South that normal. Once I learned that there was at least one within 35 miles of my home, The search was on.

I strongly recommend using www.eBird.com to track any migratory birds.  Here is a link to my posted sightings.

After one trip on the weekend of 2/15 and 2/16 I was hooked!

They are supper skittish, and even though I have a 500mm lens, I couldn’t get close enough for full frame photos.

The following weekend, Friday 2/21/14 I went back and couldn’t find the snowy owl in Marshall County.  It made me more determined to find them.  I got up early Saturday morning 2/22/14 and headed North to Lee County.  Several forums I belong too as well as several Facebook groups had been posting really nice Snowy Owl photos from Lee County.  Reports of 11 – 14 birds in a 8 mile block had my curiosity peaked.

I logged close to 300 miles over 9 hours and found 3 owls.

Driving that many miles and that much wheel time, other wildlife was found.

Red Tail Hawk

A total of 5 Red Fox were found.  The last one was pretty funny, he just took off running and I saw something moving, so I sped up and got out of front of him.  He was locked onto a skunk.  He got pretty close before he turned and ran away.  He went up next to a silo and really started cleaning himself.  I believe he got a face full of spray.  The skunk got away, and I got shots of all of it.

Saturday the temp when I started out was 23, but mid day temps got up to 33.  I was mostly driving on frozen dirt roads.  With all the recent rain and thaw there was at least three times the ice under the car gave way and I was axle deep busting my way through ice and water, I thought I was screwed!  I hammered down and made it out, I could hear the ice hitting the bottom of the car.  After the last and longest run of ice and water I backed off a couple long flooded ice floats and found a different way around.  See I can learn.

My current car has never been so dirty.  I stopped to hit a bathroom and grab a drink, and couldn’t get out of the car because doors were frozen shut.

What is up next on my bucket list?  Not really sure, but hopefully back on a golf course in less than a month!

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Thanks for stopping by!
Kent