Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Great Gray Owl
Scientific name:	[Strix nebulosa]
Date:	02/02/2017
Time:	11:15am
Length of time observed:	four and half hours
Number:	1
Age:	looks to be a first year bird
Sex:	?
Location:	Mountain Green, Utah
County:	Morgan
Latilong:
Elevation:	5000
Distance to bird:	15 feet to 50 yards
Optical equipment:	binoculars, camera
Weather:	snow/rain cloudy
Light Conditions:	a bit dim
Description: Size of bird:	two feet
(Description:) Basic Shape:	owl
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	gray
(Description:) Bill Type:	hooked but covered mostly by feathers
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	For this please view photos that Aaron sent as well as a few more I am sending. (see photos)
Song or call & method of delivery:	none heard
Behavior:	sitting in an upright position as most raptors/owls do, preening, looking around turning head nearly 360 degrees, several hunting dives feet first under pines out of sight to seeing if bird caught then ate anything.
Habitat:	Cottonwoods small pines in a populated neighborhood with an open area near road about size of a football field as well as a small hill with sage brush though most everything covered in about a foot of snow.
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	Great Horned Owl but this bird had no horns nor colors other than those in the gray color scale.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	None just pictures from some my family has photographed in other states where they are common.
References consulted:	Photographs, Sibley app on phone, and just a well known species to identify.
Description from:	From photo(s) taken at the time of the sighting
Observer:	Weston Smith
Observer's address:	1375N 6800E; Croydon, Utah 84018
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	Garry Mowery, Aaron Smith, Arnold Smith, Kris Purdy, Billy Fenimore, several people from Utah County Birders, and many many others I wish I knew their names.
Date prepared:	2/3/2017
Additional material:	Photos [Video]
Additional comments:	I was contacted by Garry Mowery a good birding friend in Morgan that he had been shown an owl in the Mountain Green area that looked like a Great Gray Owl but was questioning it due to this way out of their known area. I quickly met him at about 11am in the area and sure enough there was the bird big as life in a cottonwood tree in a residents backyard. Talking to Garry as well as some local residents this bird has been in the neighborhood for at least one week possibly two or more.