Scott Dere was photographing owls when one unexpectedly landed on his camera, blending in oddly well with the camouflaged camera lens.
“In a minute or two, I found one perched and wolf-whistled to the three others,” said Dere.
“It was an incredible moment when the owl decided to land on my head! It sent tingles down my spine for hours.
“After a brief moment, the owl repositioned itself on my lens, and I was able to slightly pivot it to pose for an image.” Thankfully, Beau has the reflexes and sense to capture the photograph that I will treasure for the rest of my life.”
Dere set out that day to photograph some fantastic grey owls and met up with three other photographers along the way, including Beaumon Day and Olympus Explorer Brooke Bartleson.
The owl then landed on Brooke’s head, startling her.
Beau stated that the owl appeared to be hunting. It would look to the ground as if looking for a small rodent or something else to eat, or it would remain motionless for a while before joining the crew.
They spent another hour with the bird, watching it fly around looking for game and landing on Brooke’s head, who collapsed to the ground in shock.
“The owl was young, a juvenile—you can tell by certain features on the owl, such as the tail feathers.”
One, I believe this young owl was simply curious about these strange visitors in his neck of the woods and wanted to investigate us. Second, he was not threatened by us.
I’ve had some amazing encounters with wildlife, and sometimes you can just sense that they are at ease and comfortable in your presence, and you share a connection for the time you’re with them.”
The entire photoshoot lasted about an hour, with the owl doing numerous fly-bys while hunting.
Owls are nocturnal, and their camouflage is excellent, so photographing an owl like this is extremely rare.
Scott Dere, the man posing in the photo lens photo, ended up posting it on social media, where it quickly went viral.
