The Gray Ghost & Me

Sharon was four months pregnant with Jake when we hit the trail in the twilight. We were over 9k’ in a high sierra meadow with about a mile and a half walk ahead of us. We were on a path a biologist I had worked with for a long time had directed us to. A colleague of his was up there doing research on what I had begun to call the Gray Ghost. That’s because up to that point, I had already spent a couple of years trying to get one in my glass with only one, soft image to show for my efforts. This morning we saw it as it lazily flew from one stump to another staying in binocular range at best. Then without a sound, it was gone, poof!

The Great Gray Owl is our largest owl but not our heaviest in NoAm. All those feathers that give it that majestic profile permit it to “float” on top of snow when it crashes down through the crust after its prey. That massive head, its facial disk, is a natural radar dish it uses to focus in on the slightest sound and channeling it to its ears with pin point accuracy. All of that biology aside, it is a spectacular critter!

Three feet tall, five foot wing span, don’t think for a moment that its large size makes it any easier to find then some tiny hummingbird. They blend into their world beautifully and fly making no sound. There are a number of locales throughout NoAm where you can find them. They literally nest on the other side of the valley from our home (and don’t think for a second knowing that doesn’t drive me nuts). But getting them in the viewfinder is a challenge. One of the locales you have better than even odds to do more than just see them, to actually photograph them is at Sax-Zim Bog. You might think I’m doing you a big favor with that information but even knowing that, I went there for three years before seeing one, five years before photographing them.

This year was our best opportunity to date permitting us a little over an hour with this individual at relatively close range. That wasn’t enough time! I would love to have hours and hours to just watch one, soak in all it is to be a Great Gray and watch it over and over again float down to pluck a tiny morsel from the snow. It is truly a magnificent part of our wild heritage I wish all could spend some time with. Their presence will reach down and grab your heart and lift up your spirit. And once you do spend time with one, you to will know what it is, the gray ghost and me.