[PHOTO CREDIT: ANDRE DENIS, CWF PHOTO CONTEST]
About 7 years ago I was so lucky to see a snowy owl on my drive to work one morning – definitely an amazingly beautiful bird! Lately I have been reading so many reports of snowy owls, one even saying that “this year’s invasion is one of the most dramatic natural history spectacles in the Northeast…”, that every day I look in the fields with the hopes of seeing another one. But so far, not a single sighting. Last week on my way home I saw people outside of their cars on the side of the road with cameras and I started to get excited thinking maybe they were looking at a snowy owl – and they may have been but I sure couldn’t spot one.
Most sightings are coming from the Atlantic provinces, the Northeast U.S., the Great Lakes, with even one on Bermuda! It seems that the reason for this event has to do with a very successful breeding season thanks to abundant prey. With so many young owls, some are being forced south.
So for now I’ll continue to scour the fields looking at fence posts with the hopes of seeing a snowy owl and if I do I’ll remember not to get too close but instead admire it from a distance.
Have you been lucky enough to see a snowy owl this winter?
Terri-Lee Reid
Terri-Lee Reid is a Freshwater Conservation Researcher at the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF). She leads initiatives in researching, designing and delivering freshwater programs and advocating CWF’s freshwater positions to government, the public and other stakeholders.
6 comments
Saw 5 or 6 on one drive out to the farm here in SK. They were definitely more abundant last year though.
In Southern Manitoba we have seen possibly 5 Snowey owls this winter, no where near the numbers in the early 2000’s but a substantial increase on the last couple of years. One is a regular returning to the same area for the last few years. I was even lucky enough to see a pure white one fly over our house last weekend.
Bonjour cette semaine sur notre territoire : à Rivière-Ouelle,St-Denis,Kamouraska, nous en avons repéré 8 … des jeunes mâles et des femelles…
I am one of the lucky ones I see an average of 2-3 Snowys a day.
I live in the City of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario
I sure have seen a snowy this year! She has been here in our area for at least 3 months! My first sighting and first opportunity ever out in the wild to capture images of one! It’s a spectacular year for seeing them up close and personal! But admiring from a respectable distance of course!
As I am a certified arborist who works up in the trees for a living, I’m fortunate to see many birds in the wild, but unfortunately no snowy owls this year. In fact, not sure if we’d see too many in general in the lower mainland of BC, not in the city anyway.