Festival of Owls

I spent Sunday afternoon at the Farmington Bay Wildlife refuge with a photographer friend who is very much interested in owls, along with other wildlife. It was a very educational and fun time, despite the bone-chilling cold wind. Standing in the sun did little to keep us warm.
So we joined several other groups, sitting on the side of the road in our vehicles to keep warm, piling out with all our gear as soon as we saw a flyby! And we did see owl flyby's!  With and without prey, watching them hunt is quite an experience, and just seeing the barn owl's face makes me chuckle!
What a treat!
Here's a few of the photos from the day (600+ total).  Very few Harriers this time and surprising to me, a Black-crowned Night Heron out on the ice near a GBH. My friend says he sees lot of them, but this was the first I had seen out in the open. A rough-legged hawk sat on and ate parts of a sucker while many photographers took photos. Only one Eagle seen, hopefully more will show up for Eagle Day in February.

Two herons, two gulls and an eagle!