Calgary Owl photography march 24

March 2024 was my eagerly awaited photography trip to Calgary in Canada.  Having had a disappointing trip the year prior to Sax Zim Bog in Minnesota I had high hopes for this year.  I had 4 days booked with Ken Anderson Photography who turned out to be an excellent choice.  Id been following his Instagram account for several years and was always envious of the images and video he was posting. 

If you are looking for a local guide then I cant recommend him enough he has been photographing the owls in and around Calgary for over 15 years and has never baited; something I was particularly keen to ensure as so many of the guides in Canada and the US do.

Each day started at 7AM when he would pick me up from the hotel; on the first day as the sun was rising he said that we were now in owl territory and to keep my eyes peeled.  We turned the next corner and there was my first Great Grey Owl sat on top of a telegraph post with a beautiful pink glow from the rising sun and the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop.

With me I had my Nikon Z9 and 400mm f2.8 TC the equipment I used for the entire trip.  I occasionally put the 2x TC on the lens and would also shoot it with the 2x and the 1.4 built in engaged too for extra reach and I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the results doing this.

I quickly learnt that the owls in Canada are nowhere near as flighty and wary of people compared to the UK and they would happily land right next to you on a post or fly past you which lead to some amazing experiences over the course of the week.  One of the most memorable being a Great Grey flying down from a tree perch and landing on a fence post only meters in front of me and then jumping to the ground basically at my feet and catching a vole before flying off into the tree’s behind presumably taking it back to a female on the nest?

We averaged between 8-12 owls a day for the 4 days I was there and my flight home was nicely timed so Ken could drop me at the airport a little early on the last day for an overnight flight home.  We saw plenty of Great Grey Owls, a Northern Hawk owl and also Pygmy Owls and a Barred Owl.  I had hoped to get some sightings of Snowy Owls too however we spent an entire afternoon searching the prairies with no luck.  The Snow on the prairies had all but melted and so if they were there still we would have seen them.!

All in all an excellent trip and I cant wait to go back again.  Below are some of my favourite images from the trip.  I have over 80 keepers from the week as well as a good selection of video clips.!