Thursday while working on a couple of stories in town, I stopped at Beaver Dam Brook Reservation to see if there were any outdoor photos to be found. And yes, it turns out there were - even if the light and scenery weren't very good that day.

In the forested part of the main trail in the reservation, a huge bird suddenly swooped down from a tree and flew back in an arc up toward the top of another nearby tree. My first thought was that it was a hawk, not unlike the one I got a great close-up photo of last summer, or the ones that Suzy Julian has photographed in town in recent months. 

Instead, I was even luckier - it turned out to be an owl. A very elusive one who made me work to get any kind of usable photo between those barren tree branches. Over the years, I've spent a lot of time in many outdoor settings - and that was still only about the third or so owl I've ever seen.