Monday, April 3, 2017

~ When You Least.....

...expect it.
 
All day Friday and most of Saturday (April Fools Day)
Mother Nature played a joke on New England.
She coated us with approximately 14 inches of snow.
Yup.....she did.

Sure, it was lovely to look at.
But heck.....we're yearning for Spring
and she just doesn't seem to want to hand it out to us.

But today she surprised us
and gave us the sunniest day
with temperatures reaching 57 degrees.
The snow is melting beautifully....yay!!!!!
So, a good friend of mine and I decided to take a ride to the beach
in search of the snowy owl who has been spotted there.
It wasn't our first hunt for the great snowy owl.
We've gone there many times scoping out areas
where he/she has been spotted.
But....sadly...we never saw him/her.
Until today.
 
Crossing over a bridge we noticed a handful of photographers
down in a parking lot to our left.
Julie quickly found a spot to turn the car around
and we headed over to see what was going on.
Imagine our surprise....delight.....excitement
when we asked one of the photographers what was getting
everyone's attention.
He quickly pointed out the "snowy owl".
Julie and I just looked at each other
and started shooting....
trying to be as quiet as possible as everyone was
so as not to frighten the owl. 
She was a beauty.

I didn't realize that only the males are almost all white.
The females have more flecks of blackish-brown plumage.
And I didn't know that snowy owls are ground nesters.
She just sat there....basking in the sun....
ignoring everyone and all of the commotion she was causing.
 
When she did move a bit....to preen herself....
there was a flurry of camera clicks.
She ignored it.....

 
.....and went back to sunbathing.
What a treat!
After taking our shots,
Julie and I walked back to the car....
quietly got in....
shut the doors....
looked at each other....
and screamed our fool heads off like two little girls.
Yup.....when you least expect it!


14 comments:

  1. Not what you want in Spring - but wow, how gorgeous and to get to see the snowy owl, super cool.

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  2. So happy you have Julie to share outings like this..my photo ..etc friend moved..I used to love getting in the car..parking and just quietly taking pics with her..

    gorgeous!
    You are a wonderful photographer:)

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  3. She sure is beautiful, Diane!
    How fortunate you were to be able to photograph her.

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  4. Oh gosh, I would love to see a snowy owl! So glad she put on a show for you. I don't blame you a bit for screaming your heads off. I would too!
    hugs,
    Jann

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  5. How fantastic is that! I would love to have a photography buddy....
    Have a great week Diane...
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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  6. How wonderful to get to see the Snowy Owl...there used to be another blogger from Montana that always posted fabulous shots of them. And I will say I would have been so excited I would have trembled taking those photos!

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  7. I just dropped by from Focusing On Life. What an amazing experience! Your pictures captured this stunning owl beautifully! I would have been screaming in the care, too!!

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  8. Love your photographs! So glad you stopped by to visit Buttercupland.

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  9. Bummer about the April Fools Snow but man how exciting to have seen that Snow Owl, She is lovely. Thanks for sharing your photos. I bet you were excited, I would have been too.

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  10. Beautiful Owl! Beautiful pictures!:)

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  11. Oh WOW! Such an exciting bird to see. Love your shots!

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  12. ...days start with expectations and end with experiences.

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  13. What a wonderful surprise!! I would have been thrilled too...:) I have yet to see one in person...you are sooooo lucky!...:)JP

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  14. Great story D. I had to laugh at that last part screaming your heads off! Hope the snow is long gone by now. The owls a beauty.

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