WILDLIFE -- Among the billions of people out there snapping photos of birds, a precious few photographers are masters.  Paul Bannick is one of them, and you don't have to take my word for it.

The award-winning photographer from Western Washington is presenting a program featuring video, sound, stories from the field and several dozen new images from his new book: "Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls." Paul uses intimate and dramatic images to follow owls through the course of one year in their distinct habitats.

Two programs are coming up in the Spokane area:

• Friday, Feb. 10, at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Little Panida Theater in Sandpoint.
• Feb. 19, 1:30 p.m., keynote presentation at the Great Outdoors and Bike Expo, Spokane Convention Center.

The show chronicles owl courtship, mating, and nesting in spring; fledging and feeding of young in summer; dispersal and gaining independence in fall; and, finally, winter’s migrations and competitions for food. 

All 19 species found in Canada and the United States are featured with a special focus on the northern pygmy owl, great gray owl, burrowing owl and snowy owl.

 "Owl" is a follow-up to Bannick’s, "The Owl and the Woodpecker."