Another Great Gray in the snowfall. This has been a good year to photograph Great Grays in Ottawa. Most years we see at most one or two, or even none, but this year I've seen at least eight. Every 5-7 years or so there seems to be an influx of GG's to our area due to a shortage of food (Voles) up north.

Like other Owls that migrate in the winter from the north, the GG's are generally quite tolerant of people. They probably don't encounter many people up north; hence, they likely think of us as just another mammal that won't do them any harm.

It was the huge influx of Great Grays in 2005 that got me started into Wild-life photography.