Photo of the Day: Northern Hawk Owl

Jim Cumming and an owl go face-to-face.
Cumming’s photo of an intense-looking northern hawk owl was taken in Ottawa, Ontario. The owl was hunting, and Cumming watched as it dropped from the treetops and landed on this birch stump. He moved toward it, hoping to get close enough for agood photo without disturbing it. That’s when the owl, staring down the barrel of Cumming’s camera lens, shot him this “what do you want?” look. Cumming says that to his surprise, it stayed like that for a few minutes, giving him plenty of opportunity to get a great photo.

This image was a Top 100 photo from the 2013 Audubon Magazine Photography Awards. To see all of the photos, click here.