Owls and Oryx
The last morning of my time in the UAE I was so fortunate to spend with this incredible human.
Gary Burns
It's easy to dismiss the desert as barren. But when you take the time to look and listen, the life you find there is nothing short of breathtaking. Gary is a fellow wildlife photographer, and his eye for birds is unbelievable. Thousands of species have adapted to live in the desert environment. Hidden in the sandstone and the scarce trees are lizards, spiders, beetles, oryx, gazelle and birds of infinite variety. I was so lucky to find him through a birding resource, and he showed me each and every corner of his desert we could cover in the short time we had together. As someone who grew up loving the snow and cold, I was not expecting to fall so in love with the Middle East. But, one of the best experiences to have as a human is to allow someone else to show you their beauty - that you might not have seen before without their guidance - and suddenly, infinite beauty is available to you in this big, fascinating and exquisite world.
And yes, I took about one million photos of these tiny, perfect owls, and I'm not sorry about it
