It’s a good thing that Great Gray Owls are not that heavy.  Despite being a relatively large bird for North America, full grown they actually only weigh a little over 1 kg. If it was much more than that, this weathered fence post might have crumpled under the weight of the bird, because it has a major lean going on.

This Great Gray Owl has something weird happening with his left eye, you can see some black over the yellow part of his eye.  Great Gray Owls actually have three eyelids, the upper, lower and a third one called the nictitating membrane that helps protect the surface of the eye, and it almost looks like there is something stuck in it when I zoomed into this photo.  That being said I had seen the same owl several years in a row with one messed up eye and he seemed to be doing just fine hunting, so I am optimistic for the same outcome for this owl.

This image is copyright © Terri Shaddick, if you are interested in using or purchasing this image, or any other images on my site, contact Terri Shaddick at contact@wildelements.ca.

Taken: November 18, 2018
Location: Southern Alberta

Camera: Canon EOS R
Lens: Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Focal Length: 400mm
Aperture: f/4
ISO: 6400
Exposure: 1/1000