© David Hemmings

This is a wonderful picture very famous on the web. The fascinating elegance of a Snowy Owl that flies looking for a pray with its beautiful yellow eyes. The author of this shot is David Hemmings, a famous photographer specialized in bird photography.



The Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large owl of the typical owl family Strigidae. It is also known in North America as the Arctic Owl or the Great White Owl. This yellow-eyed white bird is easily recognizeable. It is 53-65 cm (20-26 inches) long with a 125-150 cm (50-60 in) wingspan. The adult male is virtually pure white, but females and young birds have some dark scalloping; As opportunistic hunters, they feed on a wide variety of small mammals and birds, but will take advantage of larger prey, frequently following traplines to find food.

Besides, the Snowy Owl is also the correct answer to the riddle I've posted in this old post in wich I asked what are the signs in this photo (the imprints of an owl capturing a prey):


Here you can see other wonderful shots of snow owls by David Hemmings, which had also granted him a cover in the National Geographic magazine.


© David Hemmings

© David Hemmings

© David Hemmings

© David Hemmings

And here other pictures by Davis Hemmings of a close relative of the Snowy Owl, the Great Gray Owl.


© David Hemmings

© David Hemmings

© David Hemmings

© David Hemmings

Finally I strongly suggest you to visit this two galleries to admire the other shots of David Hemmings: SmugMug, Portfolio.