I photographed this snowy owl at a raptor conservatory in southern Ontario, Canada as part of a photo excursion. Although on a tether, the bird was allowed to fly about and had just landed in the snow when I took this shot. Most of the tether was buried in the snow ans the small part that was not buried was cloned out in Photoshop. Although the temperature never rose above 10 degrees Fahrenheit that day, the birds were active and they provided many great shots.

The image was shot with a Nikon D700 camera and a Sigma 150-500 lens at 270 mm focal length. ISO was 800; aperture was f/5.6 at 1/6400 second on aperture priority.