Shannon K. Culpepper

The Little Black Book of Birds

He was mentally one with the winged creature riding the wind, anticipating its every move. The gravel road crunched under his boots while taking rapid fire pictures of the short eared owl flying low over the snowy hill. Martin was pretending that he belonged elbow to elbow with this group of professional wildlife photographers. Getting his first shorty owl flight shots had his heart pumping, but he was more excited to be standing next to Kathy-Margaret Murphy, aka Kam Murphy, the world famous host of the BioPlanet show, “Rendezvous With Raptors.” The owl turned and banked in the golden light, right before diving straight to the ground. He wasn’t quite sure what he was seeing through his viewfinder. There was a jumble of motion and then two owls faced off in mid air before him. Time slowed as his inner focus and camera focus synced. His shutter release clicked loudly, and he knew he’d just captured his best owl picture. Kam’s camera was going off like a gatling gun with a silencer. The owls separated and then flew to the opposite side of the marsh. The photographers groaned in unison at their disappearance.