Two afternoons ago, on 3 January 2017, on the spur of the moment, I decided to drive SE of the city and see if I could find a Snowy Owl or possibly even a Short-eared Owl. The temperature was -11C, windchill -20C. The sun was shining, which makes all the difference.

I had no idea what the winter roads would be like and quickly found out that on the main highway south, there was enough snow left on the road, for much of the drive, to hide the lines showing the different lanes - something that I never like. Once I reached the area I wanted to start looking, each side road looked too snow-covered for my liking, so I ended up staying on two of the main roads - seeing nothing but a barn and a shed or two - and a Great Horned Owl (photo posted yesterday)!

I had seen and photographed the owl barn (not the one in this photo) before and I had also recently seen a photo of it with a Great Horned Owl perched on it, posted by a friend. I had not set out to drive quite that far, as Snowy Owls were what I had really wanted to search for. Also, experience told me that just because an owl (or any bird) is seen in a place by one person, it doesn't mean that it will be there again on a different day. I was certainly lucky this time! From that far away, to anyone driving by, the owl looked just like part of the barn.

So, a short, limited drive, but the owl was a highlight. More snow is forecast on quite a few of the coming days, so I'm not sure when I will be brave enough to try another drive, especially along any backroads. "Bitter cold ahead for Alberta in January" is what the weather network says. Getting stuck in the middle of nowhere in spring or summer is one thing, but to get stuck when the temperature is in the -20's is something very different.