Hang On!

A cold windy day in Kananaskis had not turned up any animals in the few hours I had been driving. As the wind calmed a Northern Hawk Owl was stretching its wings in a sheltered section at the edge of a meadow. A few minutes later it flew to a nearby spruce tree and began hunting in the blowing snow. Unfortunately for the light owl, any time it dove off the tree the crushing winds blew it far from its intended target and it would swoop back and perch to try again. It flew to another tree to try its luck from a different angle, however the winds increased and the poor owl could do nothing except hang on as the the tree top swayed several feet in either direction with the gusting wind. Exhausted and defeated it flew with the wind into the forest. This photo was taken from the 2nd tree in between gusts as the owl looked around while gripping the tree top.