Great gray owl... Jerry Mercier

I went to Yellowstone last fall just before a majority of the park roads closed for winter.

I spent the first morning on the shore of Yellowstone Lake waiting for sunrise and stayed until clouds obscured the view.

Over the years I've had luck finding great gray owls on overcast fall days. 

So after sunrise was cancelled due to weather I decided to look for owls.  I took my camera, a tripod and water and headed into a nearby lodgepole pine forest.

 

After about an hour of searching by walking slowly and checking hundreds of likely trees for perched owls, I finally found this one.

And lucky for me, it didn't seem to mind being photographed. 

In my experience, owls often don't mind being photographed. By using long lenses, working slowly and paying attention to the individual birds' behavior it's possible to create images like these without causing the owls any distress.

I was with this great gray owl for about twenty minutes. While I was there it never left the perch I found it on and didn't stop listening for prey. 

After making some images I thanked the owl for the opportunity and moved quietly away. 

I know I've done a good job photographing wildlife when the subject (bird or animal) is still doing the same thing it was doing when I got there after I've left. 

If I've done it right, they won't need to move or change their behavior at all because of my presence. And that was the case with this great gray owl.