After two years patiently waiting for his moment, a Sooke wildlife photographer achieved his dream, capturing a rare moment when a barred owl went beak to claw with a crayfish.

Sooke's Brian Rundle was out in the early hours of Monday, Aug. 20, photographing tree frogs, when he stumbled across the owl perched on a log, staring into the stream below.

含羞草研究社淚t jumped off the log and went into the water and started splashing in the stream,含羞草研究社� said Rundle. 含羞草研究社淏y the time I had my camera, it was sitting on a rock with a crayfish.含羞草研究社�

With the crayfish firmly in the grip of the owl's beak, Rundle thought the battle between the two was over, but the crustacean had other ideas.

含羞草研究社淚 thought, holy hell, he's fighting back,含羞草研究社� said Rundle. 含羞草研究社淭he crayfish was pinching, still trying to get away. But eventually the owl just ripped the pinchers off and ate them, swallowed them whole.含羞草研究社�

The moment was one that Rundle had chased for so long, with no success.

含羞草研究社淚've been after that bird so many times,含羞草研究社� said Rundle. 含羞草研究社淚've been out, I don't know, countless times, and got nothing. One time it did almost happen 含羞草研究社� but it had its back to me, so I missed out on that one.含羞草研究社�

Rundle had all but given up photographing the crayfish-loving owls, which meant he was unprepared when the moment flew into his lap.

含羞草研究社淚 was real happy, but the other half of me was annoyed that I didn含羞草研究社檛 have my really good camera,含羞草研究社� said Rundle. 含羞草研究社淢y other camera not only is sharper, it handles the low light better than this one. But I thought, ah well, at least I got it. I've been doing this for 900 years, you think I would know better.

含羞草研究社淏ut I looked up, said, 含羞草研究社榯hank you含羞草研究社� to whoever was looking after me that day,含羞草研究社� he continued. 含羞草研究社淲hen it comes to stuff like this, photographing wildlife, I find a lot of it is luck.含羞草研究社�

It's not unheard of for barred owls to eat crayfish. According to experts, if they eat enough, the feathers under their wings can turn pink, just like a flamingo. But Rundle含羞草研究社檚 photos have captured the imaginations of people online, who have never seen the behaviour before or even knew that the nocturnal bird had a seafood diet.

"That's the kind of feedback I'm getting on Facebook. You could say that it is rare to see them do this,含羞草研究社� said Rundle. 含羞草研究社淏ut I'm sure if you ask the owl, it's not rare, they do it every day.含羞草研究社�

Despite finally capturing the long-awaited moment, Rundle is striving for more.

含羞草研究社淢y background is video work,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淚 used to shoot for TV 含羞草研究社� I worked on a kids TV show called Kratt含羞草研究社檚 Creatures 含羞草研究社� so I was arguing with myself that I should shoot video of the owl. Maybe that含羞草研究社檚 a job for me next time, if I can be in the right place, right time again.含羞草研究社�