Roadside Snowy Owl in Northwest Michigan

Yesterday (Sunday 30 NOV 2014), I saw my first Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus).  Not my first of the year, but my first ever.  This owl was found along U.S. Route 31 just south of Traverse City (near Chum's Corner).

Photo by Shara LeValley

A big thank you to the staff at the Traverse City Wild Birds Unlimited for letting us know where this bird had recently been sighted.   We saw this bird as we were traveling home from a long weekend visit to Traverse City - the bird was literally sitting in the ditch along our route home.  We stopped to look at it for couple of minutes.

After several minutes of observing, the owl took off and flew atop a pole across the road.

The local group of crows did not like the presence of the owl as much as we did.  When we left, the owl was still sitting atop the pole, and the crows were sitting nearby watching closely