The majesty and intensity of watching a great grey owl hunt is beyond words. I can only hope the accompanying photos help give some idea of the thrill of having the opportunity to watch this spectacular creature. 

Each year, a few of these owls come down to our area from the boreal forest to escape the hardships of hunting in the north. They are the largest owl we have in Canada by size but their intensity and ferocity is tempered by a strange innocence.

Many of them live so deep in the northern forests they have rarely or never encountered humans before. They show no fear of us and will carry on with their daily activities as if we were not there. It is truly a wonderful feeling to look into the eyes of such a creature and see no fear. For this trait alone, we owe it to them to give them the respect and space they need. 

The owl turns toward the sound.

Great grey owls hunt small rodents like mice and voles. Because of these hunting adaptations, they have much smaller talons and beaks than other owls of similar size. To enable them to hunt such small prey, they have developed incredible sight and even better hearing. They can hunt rodents by sound alone, even through foot-deep snow. Their ears can pinpoint exactly where the tiniest sound is coming from.

The owl listens intently to pinpoint the sound of the mouse.

I was lucky enough to get to spend a few days watching one of these beautiful owls this year. On one occasion it was perched on top of a broken off tree stump watching and listening for rodents out in the nearby field. When it heard a mouse moving beneath the snow, it went into action.

It took off from its perch and headed out into the snow-covered field. Watching it, you could tell by the way it tipped its head and reacted, it was flying by sound alone. It did not see the mouse it was after. It couldn’t — the mouse was beneath a foot of snow.

The owl landed in the field near where it had heard its prey. It seemed to need another listen to pinpoint the sound. It stood there cocking its head and listening intently. A second later, it leapt into the air and pounced into the snow talons first.

The owl leaps into the air to attack.

I can only assume it captured its quarry because it immediately turned its back to me and spread its wings. Owls and raptors often do that to protect their catch from thieves (usually other creatures) that might attempt to steal their meal. In a second, the meal was swallowed whole and the owl was on its way back to its perch to look or listen for another meal. They need to eat several rodents each day to survive.

It pounces talons first into the snow after the mouse.

I felt amazingly privileged to be able to witness this feat of nature in action. I should point out that as all this happened in front of me, I remained quietly in my vehicle at the side of the road with the engine off. Luckily, I had a small window through the roadside bushes to photograph the action. It is very important to stay quiet while watching owls. They are trying to hunt by sound and even a small amount of noise can disturb their hunting ability.

© Peterborough Examiner