Marty Mellway Photography

Today is the first day of winter and this winter we are expecting to see many snowy owls in the Ottawa area. They have come down from there usual home in the far north in search of food. I have been out looking a few times now and have seen about 6 Snowy owls in total. They can be found hunting in open fields, watch for them in the tree tops, on fence posts and hydro poles. Also it is important to remember that these birds are under a lot of stress, they have left their natural habitat to avoid starvation and are here to find food for survival. If they are repeatedly scared away from where they are hunting they are using valuable energy that could be used to hunt. If you scare a bird from where it is hunting do not follow it again and again just to take photos or get a closer view. Baiting or feeding should also be avoided because it has been proven to change the behaviour of the owls. After all wildlife photography is about promoting the conservation of nature so don't be a hypocr...

We had a great trip last weekend to the pacific Rim National Park near Tofino. We took the ferry to the Island early Saturday morning and arrived at our campsite near long beach by 11am which gave us the whole day to get out and do some hikes. I was testing out my new film camera which turned out to work great. There are some really incredible landscapes around the park, my favorite would have to be the bog. Ill let the pictures and videos say the rest.