Winged Spirit - Snowy Owl

The snowy owl is a bird with great charisma. I am sure that everyone, even non-birders, is thrilled if ever lucky enough to see one. I have seen them many times, but I am always excited by the event. They seem to be a fragment of the high Arctic which has drifted to our area in the winter. They also seem to bring with them some of the mystery and aura of the far north.

This snowy is a male, as indicated by the very few dark markings. He is silently winging over a frozen lake in southern Canada. The late afternoon light produces an opalescent shimmering on the ice and snow. In the background is the wreck of an old wooden ship, perhaps and echo of the adventures of the early Arctic explorers.