Search for snowy owl produces winning picture
It was on one of those bone-chillingly cold January mornings that Bonnie Graham captured her prize on camera, a snowy owl at rest on a billowy snow crest with wheat-colored, dried brush framing the scene in aesthetic contrast while matching the bird's flecked feathers.
She and her 23-year-old daughter had traveled to Lee County, near Rochelle, in search of the elusive raptor.
"I went out there specifically to look for that snowy owl," said Graham, an avid birder who was tipped off to the bird's whereabouts by fellow bird-watching enthusiasts' reports of sightings in the area.
The pair traveled west from Graham's Lombard home, leaving behind the suburban landscape in favor of barns, silos and cropland.
"It's a farming community, so (the owl) was in the fields. Snowy owls stay, for whatever reason, out in the open," Graham said.
They embarked on their hunt despite less-than-ideal weather conditions.
"It was one of those days when it was, like, six degrees out," Graham said. "It was in the morning. It was pretty sunny. The sun was behind me. Sometimes pictures just come out the way you like it to. It was sheer luck that I saw him."
She got the shot with her Canon 70D camera.
"I used my daughter to tripod, I used her shoulders," Graham said. "I use a 100 to 400 (mm) lens. I had a teleconverter on it."
The photo is the Daily Herald's January Photo Finish contest winner, a distinction that carries with it a $50 gift certificate good at PJ's Camera in Glen Ellyn.
Graham said the sighting was especially meaningful for her daughter.
"She'd never seen a snowy owl before," she said. "They're not as rare as they used to be."
Graham, a retired North Riverside police officer, said she has been photographing birds for about five years.
"After I retired, I became a serious birder. I'm a member of the DuPage Birding Club. I learned a lot from going to the meetings and going on bird walks," she said. "There's always somebody who can identify a bird for you."
She said she also follows online posts from Illinois birding groups.
For many years, she said, she's been shooting a variety of natural landscapes.
"We're campers. We go to national parks," she said. "I just like seeing the beauty of nature, the flowers and the interesting bugs and stuff like that."
Graham said her husband often accompanies her on her photo and birding jaunts.
"He likes the outdoors," she said. "He certainly supports my hobby."
Graham said her next goal is to photograph the great grey owl.
"That's the owl of owls for me," she said.
Traveling far afield from her home is not always necessary to find winged treasures.
"My main birding area is the Morton Arboretum," Graham said. "I've seen 112 species there alone."
About our contest
If you'd like to submit a photo to our contest, email it in .jpg format with at least 300 dpi resolution to dupagecontest@dailyherald.com.
Be sure to include your name, address and a phone number, plus a description of where you took the photo, why you like it and what challenges you faced.
The winner will receive a $50 gift certificate, good at PJ's Camera, Pickwick Place Plaza, 662 Roosevelt Road, Glen Ellyn.