Into the Heart of the Prairies: In Search of Burrowing Owls
Backstory
Post - unpost - repost - unpost - I've really struggled with this one... I thought it would be interesting to have AI help me create a blog post. In the end it never felt like my voice as much as I tried to make it my story... hmmm. Anyways I've decided to (re-re-re)post it with this disclaimer*
*it was a fun trip and while the text maybe not entirely my voice I still kind of like the story... the process of going back and forth with AI was educational from a story telling perspective. That said lesson learned from now on back to BI (Brian Intelligence or lack there of) over AI. In the meantime enjoy a post brought to you by both Brian and ChatGPT..... at least the photos are all mine ; -).
How it all started
Does buying a fancy new telephoto lens make me the next National Geographic pro? Probably not, but hey??? I can drive from Calgary to Grasslands National Park and photograph Burrowing Owls -> National Geographic, here I come...
How hard could it be?
Owls that live in holes in the ground. One just drives to Grasslands, finds a hole, points a giant camera lens at said hole an owl comes out and I get award-winning wildlife photos. Easy peasy. Ha.... just like that
But first, we had to get there.
When people think of Calgary, most probably think of its proximity to the mountains — great skiing, climbing, hiking and, of course, pretty landscapes. While I like all those things too, I also really love heading east into the prairies. The mountains disappear and eventually there seems to be considerably more sky than land.
Maybe I am a bit deranged, but I love it.
There is something about the prairie that makes big things look small and little things look well... you know, how hard could it be to find a small owl burrowing somewhere out there???
“Head east,” they said — “who are ‘they’?” I say. This wasn't just about getting to Grasslands NP, I wanted to take my time getting there, making stops along the way.
Amazing how quickly one can go from thinking, “this is a boring, flat, repetitive landscape” to “wow, look at that!”
The solitude sometimes brings a nice feeling of contentment with the world around you
The Burrowing Owls would have to wait.
Time to just sit back and watch the story unfold that is in front of you
You never know how is going to come along
There is a rhythm to driving lonely backroads — long stretches of pavement, gravel, fences, fields and sky, interrupted every once in a while by something that makes you want to pull over... I am easily entertained.
Getting Closer
Crossing Alberta into Saskatchewan, the landscape continued to flatten out and open up. Somewhere ahead is Grasslands National Park and, hopefully, some Burrowing Owls.
Lots to photograph along the way...
but with my new lens I was mostly focused on birds and perhaps other wildlife
but mostly birds
It's amazing how much is going on in this apparently vast, sparsely inhabited landscape.
The farther east, the more I started to notice that almost everything out here seemed to be swallowed by the landscape — birds, buildings, people... perhaps me too???
Then... Is that a Burrowing Owl?
Nope.... Prairie dogs.
Identifying a small brown animal several hundred metres away is harder than National Geographic makes it look.
Eventually the sun began to set. Time to head back to camp and dream about actually seeing them. Photographing them? We would see.
Grasslands
The next morning I headed deeper into Grasslands. Kurtz had his journey upriver into the heart of darkness, while I had a gravel road disappearing into the smoky skies.
I'll admit, Grasslands National Park is one of those places where the emptiness is really the attraction. At first glance there doesn't seem to be much there, then you start paying attention.
There are prairie dogs
There are coyotes.
There are bison
There are birds
And, eventually... Burrowing Owls.
This was essentially how the owl photography went: find owl, try to stay respectable distance away, take a zillion photographs., grumble about said photos, crop, look at fuzzy image of owl and than yeah right - National Geographic, here I come!
I came looking for a very specific little owl, Grasslands apparently had other ideas
Eventually, I did get a few shots, sort of...
Ha - I think someone is cheating!
Probably not the best photos I've taken. But hey they're Burrowing Owls! how cool is that???
Happy to have found and photographed a few owls it was time to spend one last night before packing up and heading home
The long road home
The next morning it was time to get back on the road.
Having focused on the wildlife the past few days it was fun to view the human side of the landscape
Not only are there birds but humans have been here too
Old buildings, fences and bits of ranching history were scattered through the same enormous landscape.
There is something I really like about these old buildings standing alone against the starkness of the open prairie.
Either way, they were beginning to feel like part of the same story — people, wildlife and little traces of life scattered through a very large landscape.
Heading Home
Eventually it was time to point the vehicle toward Calgary, with a few more stops along the way.
One last night
I went east looking to photograph Burrowing Owls. I found them. I didn't necessarily come home with the tack-sharp, frame-filling owl portraits I'd imagined myself taking. Instead, I came home with photographs of roads, fences, coyotes, bison, birds, abandoned buildings, night skies, sunsets and a few very small owls hiding in an enormous prairie.
Somewhere along the way I also figured out that what looks empty from a distance isn't empty at all. You just have to slow down and look. Which, looking back, might actually be a better description of the trip.
Still... I wouldn't mind getting a little closer to the owls next time.
T&G out.*
*Apparently the stuffies, Ted (T) and the Giraffe (G), were on the trip too. I just forgot to photograph them.
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