honorable mention
Heather King canadaPhoto © Heather King
title
Northern Hawk Owl Retrieves Cache
Welcome to a short story of silent flight, and feathers white, that saved my life. I received a gift camera at a young age, and there has been one at my side ever since.
A minor concentration of my hobby came when I attended high school, (in the early 90’s) when I learned about film processing in a dark room, developing and making prints. It gave me skills I still use today. I came across a photograph of a snowy owl online and I just could not believe my eyes. I just couldn’t fathom that something THAT beautiful existed.
That photo of the snowy owl changed me, in the deepest way, I found someone to live for, a new passion. I HAD to see this owl for myself. My friend drove to every rural town he could find along their winter migratory path and knocked on every farmer's door.
He spoke about my newfound curiosity, and the background, my health issues, fighting chronic late stage Lyme disease, and with time and perseverance, he found a few farmers who said they would call us when the snowy owls returned for the winter.
I will never forget that day in December nearly 10 years ago. I saw ‘her’ on top of a telephone pole. I literally fell to my knees and started weeping. That owl saved my life 10 years ago & now I do my part in raising awareness for wildlife & even volunteering my time to drive the injured to rehab centers and help with their release.
back to gallery
entry description
We had a northern hawk owl visiting us in this tiny forest a 30 minute drive from my apartment. I visited this magical owl a lot and was amazed by all of his home made pantries (tree crevices and branches) where he stored his prey whole or half eaten for later consumption. This particular day because I studied him I knew he was going to retrieve from his pantry and I was ready to capture it when that moment came. I really like the action of the falling snow as he really had to pull hard to get his frozen prey free.about the photographer
Introduction to Heather King ~ known to many as Thee Owl QueenWelcome to a short story of silent flight, and feathers white, that saved my life. I received a gift camera at a young age, and there has been one at my side ever since.
A minor concentration of my hobby came when I attended high school, (in the early 90’s) when I learned about film processing in a dark room, developing and making prints. It gave me skills I still use today. I came across a photograph of a snowy owl online and I just could not believe my eyes. I just couldn’t fathom that something THAT beautiful existed.
That photo of the snowy owl changed me, in the deepest way, I found someone to live for, a new passion. I HAD to see this owl for myself. My friend drove to every rural town he could find along their winter migratory path and knocked on every farmer's door.
He spoke about my newfound curiosity, and the background, my health issues, fighting chronic late stage Lyme disease, and with time and perseverance, he found a few farmers who said they would call us when the snowy owls returned for the winter.
I will never forget that day in December nearly 10 years ago. I saw ‘her’ on top of a telephone pole. I literally fell to my knees and started weeping. That owl saved my life 10 years ago & now I do my part in raising awareness for wildlife & even volunteering my time to drive the injured to rehab centers and help with their release.
back to gallery