Pel's Prize

I have always been drawn more to mammals than birds, so when our guide became incredibly excited about spotting a Pel's Fishing Owl in the darkness, I didn't immediately understand why.

He explained that this was a bird people travel from around the world hoping to see, and even then, there are no guarantees. Pel's Fishing Owls are creatures of wooded rivers and wetlands, spending their days nearly motionless and hidden among dense vegetation. They are nocturnal, secretive, and so sparsely distributed that even in places where they are known to live, finding one can take days.

That night, our guide had found one.

At the time, part of me was probably still hoping we would round the next corner and find a leopard or another mammal. But his excitement was contagious, and I understood enough to know that I needed to photograph what was sitting in front of us.

Looking back, I appreciate this encounter so much more than I did in the moment. I never imagined that photograph of an owl I hadn't even known existed would earn a place in this collection. But that is part of why it belongs here. This collection isn't only about the animals I went searching for. It is also about the animals, people, and unexpected moments that taught me to pay attention to something new.