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.

乌鸦传媒淚t jumped off the log and went into the water and started splashing in the stream,乌鸦传媒� said Rundle. 乌鸦传媒淏y the time I had my camera, it was sitting on a rock with a crayfish.乌鸦传媒�

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.

乌鸦传媒淚 thought, holy hell, he's fighting back,乌鸦传媒� said Rundle. 乌鸦传媒淭he crayfish was pinching, still trying to get away. But eventually the owl just ripped the pinchers off and ate them, swallowed them whole.乌鸦传媒�

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

乌鸦传媒淚've been after that bird so many times,乌鸦传媒� said Rundle. 乌鸦传媒淚've been out, I don't know, countless times, and got nothing. One time it did almost happen 乌鸦传媒� but it had its back to me, so I missed out on that one.乌鸦传媒�

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

乌鸦传媒淚 was real happy, but the other half of me was annoyed that I didn乌鸦传媒檛 have my really good camera,乌鸦传媒� said Rundle. 乌鸦传媒淢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.

乌鸦传媒淏ut I looked up, said, 乌鸦传媒榯hank you乌鸦传媒� to whoever was looking after me that day,乌鸦传媒� he continued. 乌鸦传媒淲hen it comes to stuff like this, photographing wildlife, I find a lot of it is luck.乌鸦传媒�

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乌鸦传媒檚 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,乌鸦传媒� said Rundle. 乌鸦传媒淏ut I'm sure if you ask the owl, it's not rare, they do it every day.乌鸦传媒�

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

乌鸦传媒淢y background is video work,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淚 used to shoot for TV 乌鸦传媒� I worked on a kids TV show called Kratt乌鸦传媒檚 Creatures 乌鸦传媒� so I was arguing with myself that I should shoot video of the owl. Maybe that乌鸦传媒檚 a job for me next time, if I can be in the right place, right time again.乌鸦传媒�