Snowy Owls in Washington

When the weekends role around, sometimes I feel prepared; other times I feel a bit scatterbrained. This was one of those weekends. I heard on the news that West Coast WA was going to have some pretty decent weather, meaning partly cloud and low 40s, and one thing was for certain. I would be spending time outdoors soaking up some vitamin D and kind of already knew where I wanted to spend the day.

Back in November, my friends/co-workers ventured out to Ocean Shores, a town located about 25 minutes west, and captured some pretty fantastic shots of snowy owls in their natural environment. I am not going to lie, I was quite jealous and knew my time was almost up (they only stay through mid-late February), so off I went with my friend/co-worker, Sydney, to Ocean Shores!

Hunting any type of wildlife is so thrilling and such an adrenaline rush. I can honestly say that never in a million years, would I picture myself creeping in these grasslands on the coast of Washington trying to get as close to Snowy owls as possible, without startling them. From afar these birds look like plastic bags washed up onto logs, and I really wasn’t sure what I was looking at when we first got there. But after an hour, we started to notice these white spots from a distance perched on beached logs, low to the ground. With each breathe stopping step and picture I took, the more my heart was pumping for more. I wanted a better angle, a better shot, more action. Keep in mind, I was not the only person at this location looking at these beautiful bird, but then again I don’t really think about anyone else when I have my camera in hand. It didn’t really matter in the end because all I know is at one point I was a mere 25 feet away from a wild Snowy owl.

To top off this trip, a bald eagle landed perfectly on a log no more that 200 feet away; allowing me as close as 75 feet before flying away! I felt like a true wildlife photography scoping out my prey hoping for the next big picture. You can bet I will be back again for my next chance at capturing the beauty of the Pacific Northwest wildlife!

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