Where We Were

We found the snowy owls, of the previous post, within the large acreage of the Experimental Farm within Ottawa. To reveal the vastness of the empty fields, I should have had a normal or even a wide angle lens, but, of course, it was the telephoto lenses that were the order of the day if we were going to photograph distant owls.

This photo of a very small section of the fields  may give you some idea of the snowfields on a cold day with wooded land beyond the far road.

The birds were always a long way off, and this first sighting was too far to get anything but a blurry speck, even at full telephoto zoom. The owl is in the centre of the photo.

The snow wasn't very deep. so we saw occasional grasses sticking out. Although that wasn't the object of the day, I did grab a few quick snaps.

The occasional tree broke the empty landscape here and there.

A creek ran through one of the fields that we passed. It looked good flowing within the yellow grassy banks — an oasis in a barren land (that would not be barren in summer with crops in the fields). Once again, more time and a wider lens might have yielded better photos, but this day was not about that and these pictures are good enough to suit me.

It was a cold day, but we photographed from within the car, and there were plenty of access roads to navigate our way around the fields in the hunt for the owls. It was good to have this unique experience and not just for the owls although they were the main feature. There were also some photogenic old buildings, mostly sheds, here and there, which would have made interesting subjects, but again, they were not what were were focussing on that day.