As I was snapping the two Great Horned Owls in Florida last year, I knew I had a winner. I selected an image from that sequence as my personal Photo of the Year for 2008. When I found out there was a $200 prize for a nature photo contest at a local lawn and garden show, the owls were an obvious choice.

Great Horned Owls

Eagle-eyed (owl-eyed?) observers may note that this image is not the same one that I picked for my Photo of the Year. What can I say – I happened to have an 8x10 print of the alternate version, and I was too cheap to spend $1 to get the other one printed.