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It’s always good to go into something like birding without strong expectations or specific required outcomes because doing so can really set you up for disappointment or prevent you from fully enjoying what you do experience. Trust me I’ve been here before - some event or activity is coming up and I’m excited and anticipating an amazing experience (think hiking in optimal conditions with no rain and beautiful sunshine without being too sweat inducing - or skiing on powdery soft snow that pillows your landing when you fall, but isn’t that slushy wet soak through all your clothes and frigid temperatures to make your fingers ache kind of cold.…..you get the picture) - while these are wonderful aspirations, they rarely exist in reality and when they do by chance occur, I find myself appreciating the experience even more when I haven’t put so much pressure on myself to expect these conditions.

This photo was taken on one of those rare days when we went for a spontaneous snow shoe hike in Kananaskis and the conditions were perfect - lots of snow, not too cold and beautiful sunshine.

The same is true when it comes to planning for birding or any other type of photography - be prepared, but don’t bank on expectations. I know when I go out to photograph birds and I have specific mental images of what I want to capture that I’m setting myself up for frustration and possible disappointment. In my experience, birds rarely accommodate the photographs I’ve envisioned, but when I let that go and be open to what I see - I often find something surprisingly different and even better than I was imaging or hoping for.

But sometimes you get something even better!

My recent snowy owl trip is a great example (see my last blog post In Search of Snowy Owls to read about my experience). I wanted to photograph snowies in an area I had found in 2023 which had a lot of them.

Last year I got some amazing images with late afternoon golden hour sunlight with my favourite being this Snowman Snowy Owl. If I’d come into this year expecting the same if not better shot I would have been very disappointed. The conditions were totally different with the majority of the week being thick ice fog and heavy hoar frost making visibility tough and photographing white birds something of a challenge. While these conditions are a landscape photographer’s dream they are not necessarily a wildlife photographer’s happy conditions for more than a day or two.

There was a lot of beauty to be seen with the hoar frost which thickly coated trees, buildings and the remains of canola crops in the fields. I loved spending time enjoying the peacefulness and beauty of the landscape while I looked for these rather elusive owls.

Because I was being open minded and focusing on enjoying the solitude and experience, I kept calm and continued to travel similar routes each day. On day 3 of my 7 day trip I stopped at an intersection to scan for snowies and I noticed a vehicle parked on the intersecting road. I didn’t think much of it and as I scanned the area I saw several birds flying around above me. I pulled out my binoculars to get a better look and thought at first they were hawks, but usually hawks migrate south, so I took a quick shot and checked Merlin EBird for identification - short eared owl came up.

I was pretty excited as I’ve not seen a short eared owl before and as I watched I noticed them landing in hay bales along the intersecting road - just in front of the parked vehicle. It seems I had stumbled upon a rare sighting of 5 short eared owls roosting in hay bales in a field and hunting together as the field was full of mice and voles.

It was thrilling and rewarding to be able to position my vehicle close to these owls without disturbing them and observe them hunting and flying back and forth to their roosting sites. In addition, the darker colour of these owls provided a nice contrast to the hoar frost and foggy conditions.

I even met the person in the other vehicle - a really nice fellow wildlife photographer @photographytoddwhite who stopped to chat with me and made me feel very welcome to the area. Todd runs photography tours in central Saskatchewan for anyone who is interested in experiencing these amazing animals and birds. I’d highly recommend you check out his website and contact him if you’re interested.

I would have missed this amazing experience if I hadn’t been open to what came along and focused solely on snowy owls.

Letting go and going with the flow

I found when I first retired that I had such expectations (see this blog post) and when things didn’t go as expected or desired there was sometimes disappointment or frustration. Photographing birds has helped me to learn that this approach doesn’t serve me and only results in a less than enjoyable experience.

Letting go and going with the flow is not my typical approach to life - I’m definitely a command and control type of personality, but I think I’m learning that I actually don’t control anything but my thoughts and my reaction to situations. This was a difficult concept to fully embrace (let’s be honest I don’t always embrace it even now), but when I am able to let go of expectations and stay present in the moment - enjoying what is in front of me, I find it is not only more enjoyable, but I often find even better experiences.

Being open and curious seems to always result in a better outcome.

“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.” (Roy T. Bennett)

It’s taken me a long time to fully understand and embrace the concept of letting go of what you cannot control. During my career I often advised others that letting go frees up the mind to figure things out and also opens the door for input and assistance from others - to create and collaborate. I need to seriously listen to me sometimes - I can give some pretty solid advice!

I have found that the more I try to control things the less control I actually have. This may seem obvious to some of you and it may be aligned with how you live your life, but for me and I suspect others who I affectionately refer to as type A or perfectionist personalities (like myself), this can be a very challenging practice to embrace let alone master.

By letting go of expectations during my snowy owl photography trip I managed to let myself be open to the other wonderful experiences that were available instead of being frustrated and missing out.

More surprises!

In addition to the short eared owls (shorties), I also found a red fox hunting in the early morning fog. It was fun to watch him pounce on his prey and the foggy morning conditions made for some very moody images. This is one of the things that I really like about photography - you’re never sure what you will find, but it’s such a beautiful and interesting experience to be in the moment and see what appears.

Another morning I stopped beside an abandoned farmyard when I spotted a great horned owl roosting in an old abandoned barn watching the comings and goings of the day.

One of the really nice things that happened was the friendliness of the locals - I was parked at the side of the road, pulled over as far as I could be and the number of people who stopped to check and make sure that I was ok really filled me with gratitude.

Once I said snowies or they saw my camera there would be the inevitable smile and nod or a comment to tell me how many owls frequent the area I was travelling or suggestions for where to find them.

This sort of friendliness makes me grateful that we haven’t lost our ability to connect and look out for each other.

Curiosity makes for special experiences

I am a very curious person by nature and I often find that what I see or read sparks a relentless drive to find out more. One of the benefits of retirement is having the time to explore things and follow these curiosities. I love being able to go down rabbit holes and discover new facts, locations or people.

This thirst for knowledge and understanding of the world around me has led to wonderful experiences learning about different cultures, wildlife habits and a myriad of other things.

I am very grateful for the times when I drop my barriers and let these experiences and interactions occur. It nearly always results in a better outcome than I expected or anticipated.

Like this belted kingfisher who I watched hunting along the river for several weeks before I was able to capture a sequence of images with a fish in his mouth.

Knowing how he moves and where he is likely to land really paid off when the timing was right to capture this image.

So where is this all leading?

I’m excited with what I have been learning about letting go and going with the flow - about relinquishing my need for control and leaning towards guidelines or general principles when I’m experimenting and getting creative. This is also leaking into my day to day life - who would have thought this type A personality would embrace and enjoy the lack of a defined plan.

Do you find yourself setting strong expectations and being disappointed when they aren’t realized? How do you deal with this? Have you made any changes to your approach? If you’re someone who has a more free flowing approach I’d love to hear how you approach new situations (I’m looking for tips!).

I hope you’ll come back soon, share a cuppa, relax and enjoy more of my musings.