Okay, you have your icy stares of some repute…but there is nothing like the snowy stare of the Snowy Owl. Despite the photographs you see, those yellow eyes are not seen often in the field. Most of most days, at least here in the southland in this invasion winter, the Snowy sits with its eyes hooded staring out at the world through a thin crack…if not with eyes completely closed. Certainly in the best light for photography, the Owl is likely to have its eyes tight shut.  🙂

Still, patience has its rewards, and if you spend enough time with a Snowy Owl, you will catch it with its eyes open and glaring yellow. In flight shots of course the eyes are always open…and late in the day, when the sun sinks low to the horizon, the Owls open up to begin hunting. This late afternoon/early evening was the first time I have caught our local Snowy Owl in a period of relative activity. You might have seen the flight shots posted a few days ago.

Even when sitting, this day the Owl had its eyes pretty much wide open…open enough to appreciate the signature Snowy Stare.

Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom. 600mm equivalent plus the 2x digital tele-converter built into the E-M10 for 1200mm equivalent. ISO 200 @ 1/1250th @ f11. Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.