Photo Of The Day January 15

Northern Hawk Owl

Today's photo isn't the best quality shot, but it is of a Northern Hawk Owl. I had to push the D300 to ISO3200 to get the needed shutter speed, which is why the quality of the image isn't the best. Normally I wouldn't post an image like this, but the Northern Hawk owl is rarely seen in southern British Columbia, and the last time this species was seen in the Greater Vancouver area was 7 years ago! This individual Northern Hawk Owl has been dwelling near the George C Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary for the past two weeks now, but this is the first time that I've seen it myself. I hope it is around for a week or so more, as I'd like to take some better photos of it.