Snowy owls stopping in New England

Snowy owls or (Bubo scandiacus) are descending on New England. Reports from Vermont to Rhode Island are appearing on the Audubon websites and our New England Photographers Guild Facebook page is a good example.

On the NEPGuild website where our juried members write articles that pertain to their areas of New England, Liz Mackney has written a Snowy owl article.

I was lucky enough to get a point out to the location of a snowy who was making a home for itself in Hampton, NH. I’m not a birder by trade and I only have a 100-400mm lens, so I still have to get in pretty close, to get a good shot.

It was a chilly morning, how chilly? how about a two pant and three shirt layer morning, Oh and two pairs of gloves… I first spotted Bubo (as I will call him) on the bench of a picnic table. I had the rising sun to my left-rear quarter so I had him lit from the side. This provided really good depth and detail to his coloration.

I soon made him nervous enough that he flew 20 feet further away. Then as I caught a few more shots he decided I had enough pictures and he flew off for a roof in the distance. Basically where I wouldn’t bother him quite so much.

I wonder if I brought a few mice whether he would be interested? Of course this would be baiting and illegal but catching a bird of prey in the hunt would be fascinating to observe.

Check the Guild article for more images from both the Guild members and our Facebook fans.

I also found this video on snowy owls by Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Jeff “Foliage” Folger
Snowy Owl shots on Vistaphotography