Birds in Nature - images of wild birds by Richard Ditch

Subject: Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa)
Place: Jamestown, NY, USA
Date: February 1992
Equipment: Nikon 8008, Nikkor EDIF 400/5.6, tripod
Film: Kodachrome 200
Exposure: Aperture priority center-weighted metered
Scan: Minolta Dimage, 90% of image (cropped L & R)

Commentary: Great Gray Owls are birds of the boreal forest, and seldom move south of Canada on the east coast of the US. When one does, word spreads quickly in the birding community and many people try to see it. I led a group of birders from NJ on a 10 hour drive to see this one.

The winter light and leafless winter trees tell much of the story of this bird's visit, and I feel are important to the mood of the photo.