A lot of nice shots this week. Technically, they were all excellent. All birds, and then Dave came in with the lone landscape for the week (thanks Dave for keeping the landscapes alive this week). It's a tough one because there are several that are just excellent examples of what we should be striving for.

But to pick a winner, I am going to go with Stuart's Owl. It is a shot that is just plan difficult to get, and one a lot of people would love to have gotten. Not only do you have to be there at the right time, but then you need to know your camera and set-up good enough to get the shot with a split second to react to get the focus, exposure, timing, and framing correct; and in this shot he got all that right. That is exciting and tough to pull off... especially with a snowy background. Overall a really nice, but extremely difficult shot to get at so many levels. Only criticism (and it is getting petty) is I wish the white balance was a little better, and snow was not blown out in spots.

Congratulations Stuart on a great find, and excellent execution of highly sought after shot.

Note: The picture does not show up on TDP (it say "This photo is no longer available"). So I did go to Flickr to view it... I hope that does not violate some rule. If you cannot see it, here is the link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/943819...in/dateposted/
It is worth the time to view it.

Pat