Snowy Owl Observers

By chance, while driving along the lake yesterday afternoon, I watched a Snowy Owl land on top of a utility wire insulator. It perched there just long enough for me to get these portraits and video.

Jonathan







Video
https://flic.kr/p/238wzRQ

FANTASTIC shots J, i havent seen one yet here in north central WI but others have....thanks for posting

Nice. Thanks 4 sharing.

Great job. I haven't seen one yet this winter I'm not sure why.

Are they normally out and about in the day light?

Jonathan, This gentleman takes some shots that might interest you. http://www.assateaguephotos.com/Other

Ain't he a dandy! Yes they are out during daylight-think about it, where they come from there are some LONG days. Equally long nights 6 months later.

None this year yet.

Saw another one yesterday, today I bumped a pair of smaller owls two times on the way out to shoot a coyote

Great Horned owls are courting and making nests now here in WIs, Eagles also.

You guys up north made the news down here. The other day while listening to the commodity markets & farm news on the radio they had a short segment on the snowy owls being seen in the northern states. I thought it was odd to here that on the radio since I live in Kansas. Is it really rare to see one? Thay look beautiful.

I saw my first Snowy Owls (3) this winter in Kansas. I was lucky enough to see these 2 together one day.

This is the first one I saw, kind of surprised me to see it and took a quick photo w/ my cell phone. Just happened to be sitting on a NWR sign.

Pawnee, They are common up here in the winter months, but it is "rare" to see them up close. I get lucky some years.

Jonathan

Nice pics sir!
Seen way more than normal this year in MN.

Mike, do you live in northern Kansas ? I’ve lived here 30+ years and never seen one, and I don’t miss much. Thanks for sharing the pics

Jonathan, I really enjoy you photos. Thanks for the reply

X2 seen a dead one on the road the other day wish I could have picked it up for mounting, I did notify the local warden and noticed it was gone today

Pawnee, yes I live in Phillips County. And here I thought I was the last one to see a Snowy Owl in KS but I guess not. I just happened to glance to my left when I saw that one in the snow sitting on a sign post. Someone else tipped me off of the other 2 and I went looking for them.

One of the smaller airports here got into a little public backlash for shooting one. While legal, they decided to adjust the policy to be a little more sensitive to the public wishes.

Great pictures.

Good to know. I’ll keep my eyes peeled, and camera ready. Thanks

Thank you all for the pictures of an amazingly versatile predator. I recall reading about a tracking study that found some snowy owls ranging well out onto the frozen Arctic Ocean, as far as 40 miles from shore. Turns out they were hunting sea birds and eider ducks in open cracks and leads in the pack ice.

Something must have been going on up north pushing them south this year. I was seeing several owls in West central MN during the beginning of November and we didn't have any snow. One was in the same field for a week straight and was in a tree above a yote I had caught. Seen another one several times about five miles away. I have only ever seen one here once before in my life and that was in the middle of winter.

Schmattz

Great shots Jonathan! Thanks for sharing?

This is how my stalk ended trying to get a closeup on this one , I have no fancy camera only my iPhone lol

Mike, Thanks for the share. The birds in the first photo looks like a pair. The all white color of the top one suggests it is a male.

CW, No matter your share is from an IP camera. You caught a neat moment of flight of a male bird in the scene. It shows the highly feathered legs and feet.

Jonathan

Saw one real close today, landed on electric pole in front of me

One of Gods best creatures.

There was an area near Leach Lake back in the 90's which had a stand of roughly 40 year old red pines. There was a snowy there for at least 3 years running using a nest. I do not think it built it or had young there, just seemed to come back to each winter until the area was clear cut.

Osky

Osky, That is an interesting observation. I suspect it was using the nest as a hunting platform to prey on songbirds or small mammals in those pines.

Any chance it may have been a juvenile Barred or Great Horned Owl?

Jonathan

Jonathan,

There was one that decided to venture way down here a couple of weeks ago and give us southerners a very rare treat! Like the article says, pretty much a once in a lifetime event for us.

http://www.cbs7.com/content/news/Snowy-O...-471194123.html

Wow that's way far south, I never knew they would go that far