Two Canadians go to the Jersey Shore...

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C

Clark

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No joke.

Christine and I drove south to Island Beach State Park the weekend before Christmas.
I forgot how long this beach was. Great place, the waves have the right sound to them.
The first stop was at the south parking lot. And we run into two fellows who had that look in their eye. So of course I say, "So where's the owls?"
And that was it, we exchanged cellphone numbers, and made a plan to work every other parking lot going north.
We split up, and two parking lots later, I see one in flight about 300 yards north. Ten minute later, and now there are nine of us, we get great views.






There is no walking on the dunes here. Everybody gets pissy about it.
So with respect to that, and the fact that this is 400mm on a full frame,
this is best shot of snowy owl.





When we left the house in the morning, I said "let's be home by lunchtime." Gotta set a cut off time.
So we say goodbye to all our new friends, and walking back to the car, we notice in the sand is written SNOWY OWL.
Now I see another group of people with cameras. Now I can see the other owl.
Without moving my feet, I can see two snowy owls.
A short walk and this is what I got.







The side show of this place is the red fox.






So many foxes. After 15 minutes, my wife goes " This is creepy, look at them all."
This can be a very busy place. People feed the wildlife here. That is popcorn on the ground.
We don't do this type of thing. But I have shot next to bird feeders.





In no time at all, the fox learns, when a car stops, to go sit down for a hand out.
If the car doesn't stop, the fox moves on to the next car.
I did not see this woman feed any wildlife.






We didn't get home till 5pm.
Thanks for looking.
:)
 
Dang Canadians are walking all over the dunes! Sheeshe....foreigners!

Awesome shots, Clark! I've never seen a Snowy Owl in person. I've seen lots of Great Horned Owls and some Screech Owls (both colour morphs); but, I'd LOVE to catch a glimps of a Snowy. What incredibly beautiful birds!

Love the Fox photos too! Such big, white teeth!

Gotta ask though, what's up with the car grill photoshopping? Was the Fox really that close; or, did you photoshop it into the picture?
 
Thank you!


John, I don't think it would be polite to post someone's license plate. Sure I could of just made it blurry, but come on man, that's ******* funny.
In New Jersey it is required to have front plate ( same for New York state). Pennsylvania is rear plate only.


The fox is that close. They all get that close if you stop the car. Dozens of them running around.
Some clearly not so healthy. Keep your distance.


They hold long enough to get inventive.





Cellphone shot of photogs getting second owl.



Thanks:)
 
John, I don't think it would be polite to post someone's license plate. Sure I could of just made it blurry, but come on man, that's ******* funny.
In New Jersey it is required to have front plate ( same for New York state). Pennsylvania is rear plate only.
Ah, I didn't think of that at all. I should've. We have front plates in Ontario too. Yeah, in that case,....funny!

The fox is that close. They all get that close if you stop the car. Wow! Dozens of them running around. Some clearly not so healthy. Keep your distance. Dozens would be a bit unnerving.

Again; great photos!
..
 
Fantastic shots of the snowy and red fox panhandlers. We see them up here in Mass on the shore up at Parker River Wildlife Refuge but rarely that close. It's more like a white blob in the brown salt marsh and without a scope that's about all you see. Thanks for posting these.
 
It's Hedwig! Did you see Harry lurking anywhere?

On a more serious note; stunning picture of that last Snowy owl. Such an incredibly beautiful bird.



The most interesting bird experience I've had is what I always think of as 'The Clash of the Titans':

I was walking at the outskirts of the city when I heard this persistent noise and I decided to investigate. It turned out to be a really angry bird and it was giving someone a good piece of its mind.

I suspected it could be a cat that was the recipient of the bird's anger, but when spotted the noisemaker and its target, it turned out to be a Eurasian wren giving a Eurasian pygmy owl one heck of a telling off. The owl looked like it had absolutely no idea why the wren was so mad and it just sat there blinking, yup, owlishly.

So, one of the smallest bird species in Sweden arguing with (or rather; at) the smallest owl species in Europe. I think it's quite possible that it's one of the cutest and most ridiculous things I've ever seen.


I'm just sad I didn't have any camera phone at that time, but I'll always remember it.
 
Thanks Clark. Very cool! Apparently, I'm surrounded by Snowy Owls! They seem to be prefering built up areas and suburbs. I'm in a rural area. I would've thought that they'd prefer the kind of landscape around me, over hanging out near busy highways and developed areas. I need to keep my eyes peeled the next time I'm in the Dundas St and Hwy 427 area.

I also see that people are posting sightings of Painted Buntings! I didn't know they can be seen in my area. I've seen the odd Indigo Bunting; but, never a Painted Bunting. That'd be so cool!
 
A good shot of any owl is quite an accomplishment. They're sneaky birds. I hear them a lot around the house,
but never see them. The two fox photos are Nat'l Geographic quality, Clark. WOOHOO!
 
Very nice pictures! I like also the nature with snow as today here in Belgium.
The bird that you shows us is named "Harfang des neiges" (snow harfang). Is this the bird that the Inuits name "ookpik"? It is nearly extinguished here in Belgium.
 
Damn that fox shot is remarkable. I might have to go to some national parks this summer. Problem is getting this close.
 
Many thanks:)
And for the record, my wife shot the first two fox images.
I forgot to give her credit.


great shots,there is alot of snowy owls around this year,we saw 6 on sat
Six in a day is remarkable. Cheers!
Is there a crowd of birders/photographers near each bird. I live in a rather high density area, so there are many people with cabin fever looking for a reason to get out.
One gets used to being elbow to elbow I guess.
Just wondering how it is by you.


Brabantia, look like you bullseyed that one.
And I appreciate the history lesson. Thank you.
 

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