There is absolutely nothing great about the first image which is remarkable, but it did represent three days of efforts and one Snowy Owl. This has been the “UnWinter”. Not only is snow not on the ground in this exceedingly strange winter, but for the first time I can ever remember I had not seen a Snowy Owl till mid February (normally I find many of the white owls as early as December 1st). In Superior, Wisconsin which is normally a hotbed for seeing the large white birds, nary an owl.
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A male Snowy Owl showed up at Sax-Zim Bog last Sunday, and I went into overdrive. Through the middle of the past week I chased this rare bird (normally a species not unusual during the winter). Finally on Wednesday I got close to the owl for a few seconds only to have some crows chase the bird out of sight (no pic). Thursday the white owl was hanging out at the far limit of my camera’s reach … really beyond the reach.
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Anyhow … a 3 day effort for one bird and one photo.
I actually knew the bird left its daytime roost out in the meadow about 45 minutes before sunset, but my schedule which includes cooking dinner for Molly and me does not allow for late afternoon or evening birding. I had given up hope of seeing the Snowy Owl close up, and had not planned to visiting Sax-Zim yesterday when a chance encounter with a reader of this blog down near Aitkin while looking for Sharp-Tailed Grouse changed my plans. It was fun to show off and explain habitat. Then I decided, why not the white owl? We drove one hour north and much to my surprise, the owl was out hunting during the middle of the day. Life is good!
This bird tends to hang out starting after the big curve on Hwy #7 just north of Arkola Road through a bit north of Sax Road where the thicker forest begins once more.
I thought your readers might be interested in the posts of Project Snowstorm. I believe it’s based in southern Canada and north of the Great Lakes. They catch Snowies and then track their movements for a year. I find the research fascinating and thought your readers would it too.
I have often talked about Project Snowstorm, and have even worked with them to research tagging Snowy Owls in our area. That has not yet occurred, but I am hopeful.
Project Snowstorm actually knew last Fall that Snowy Owls had poor breeding success in the Arctic last summer. Thus, the poor breeding plus a mild winter meant owls just did not get this far south in many numbers.
Great project, and we started similar research through the Friends of Sax Zim Bog using GPS / cellular technology tags. The first research project was for Northern Hawk Owls. The Friends organization now has a specific research fund to which people may donate money.
glad you saw this beautiful owl. thanks for sharing. this has been a non-winter for sure
First snowy siting? Friend mentioned to me snowshoeing in the north Country years ago. He was stopped under a cedar tree. In the field in front of him, a silent white shadow glided across the snow. Then it dropped into the snow, and after a moment lifted off with something in its claws.