Owl in the Rain

What does an owl do in the rain?

This was the teaser question posed by the lecturer to pique our interest in his presentation. He was offering a lecture/photo op on a rainy weekend day a couple of years ago at Crex Meadows. He invited us and our cameras outside to find out for ourselves. There was a wide overhang of roof over a concrete pad and benches, plenty of room for those of us who followed him out, both to get the information he offered, and pictures without getting our cameras wet.

He brought along a great horned owl and a red-tailed hawk, both on stands out in the yard, in the wet. We could shoot to our heart's content, provided we could find a space between two other people and nobody was rude enough to walk in front of our lens. Picking your background was another issue. If you wanted shots of a crowd of people looking at and shooting a couple of birds, here was your big chance! If you wanted evil-looking bird with red and yellow eyes, just leave on the flash. Apparently lots of people did. If you wanted woodsy and natural looking, well, that called for more patience and the ability to block flash.

So what does an owl do in the rain? He gets wet, of course!