A lession in seeing versus looking

[tbob]

I was processing some images from December just now, and to my shock I found a snowy owl on a roof top. I never saw this until just now and it was a golden opportunity wasted. It would have been a simple matter to walk up the road. I already had the 400 mm telephoto on the camera.



Hey stupid, here I am, waiting for my closeup.
A crop of the original, not sharp, but then obviously neither am I

[terrib]

Oh no, Trevor! Is this barn close to you? Maybe the owl lives there and you can catch him again in the area... I always wonder when I'm hiking around what is seeing me that I'm not seeing.

[Bobobird]

In winters, what looks out of place should be checked out.

If something looks like a white bucket chances are it is a snowy.

But last year, while specifically out looking for snowies, a white bucket was indeed a white bucket.

[tbob]

Oh no, Trevor! Is this barn close to you? Maybe the owl lives there and you can catch him again in the area... I always wonder when I'm hiking around what is seeing me that I'm not seeing.

The barn is about thirty minutes away. It is quite possible the owl could still be there as it is a good vantage point to survey the surrounding fields. I will be out there on Saturday. The gods smile on the foolish; so perhaps.

[tbob]

In winters, what looks out of place should be checked out.

If something looks like a white bucket chances are it is a snowy.

But last year, while specifically out looking for snowies, a white bucket was indeed a white bucket.

Snowy owls are native here in winter. The problem is they are usually half a kilometer away perched in a tree up, against the trunk, in the middle of a field. Plus they have a huge hunting area so the likelihood of finding one, even if you know roughly where it is is slim.