Another Snowy Owl

Yesterday morning I had two presentations to give at Beal City Elementary.  On my drive to the school I kept a watch out for Snowy Owls - one has been reported hanging out between Rosebush and Beal City near the intersection of Weidman Road and Nottawa Road for several weeks.  Sure enough, as I approached the intersection from the east there was an owl perched on a utility pole.

I didn't have time to stop right then, but hoped the owl would still be there when I drove back through the area.

Two and a half hours later, after completing my classroom programs, I drove back down the same road with hopes that the owl I sighted earlier would still be near the road.

Fortunately for me, the owl was perched on the same roadside pole.  I pulled my truck as far off the road as possible and hopped out.  The owl was definitely aware of my presence and it looked directly at me several times, but it was more interested in the several cars and trucks that passed by in the few minutes that I stayed there.  Whenever a car went by the owl would turn its head to follow it.

Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)

This is the fourth individual Snowy Owl that I have seen this winter and the third that I have had the opportunity to photograph.  This one was by far the most heavily marked owl that I have seen this winter.  Most likely this is an immature female - female birds are more heavily marked than males. Hopefully I will see several more yet this winter before they return to the Arctic. 

Snowy Owl - cropped to a vertical image

Snowy Owls in Mid-Michigan 2018

Do you want to see a resident of the Arctic without leaving Mid-Michigan?

Right now we are undergoing an event called a Snowy Owl irruption.  During an irruption, Snowy Owls (Bubo scandiacus) descend from the Arctic in large numbers.  It is normal for some snowy owls to migrate south to southern Canada and the northern United States every winter, but during an irruption year the migration is much larger than normal. Snowy Owls have been reported this winter as far south as Oklahoma and Virginia.

Many people mistakenly believe that an irruption indicates that the animals are suffering food shortages in their native habitat and arrive weak and starving.  Instead, the opposite is probably true.  Irruption years have been linked with abundant summer food supplies allowing more young owls to successfully fledge (develop wing feathers large enough for flight) and strike out on their own.  These young owls form the majority of owls during an irruption.

Snowy Owl near Rosebush, MI (19 January 2018)

While most owls are secretive and prefer to hide during daylight hours, Snowy Owl are quite comfortable hunting during the day - during the Arctic summer these birds experience nearly 24 hours of sunlight each day.  Also these birds are used to open habitats.  While most owls retreat to the security of wooded areas during the day, Snowy owls are more likely to perch on the ground in an open field, atop a building, or atop a roadside utility pole.  This visibility and their exotic nature makes Snowy Owls one of the few birds that will excite non-birders.

Snowy Owl between Alma and Shepherd, MI (19 January 2018) - photo by Shara LeValley

If you want to see a Snowy Owl, you can always just drive around and look for them, but the best way to see them is to find out where other people have been sighting them.  Ask a birder - they will know where the local Snowy Owls are hanging out.  If you lack access to a birder check out the website eBird.  Here is link for the current year's Snowy Owl sighting.  Once on the page you can zoom in to your location and see if any have been sighted nearby.  If want to see other birds, you can search for them on eBird too - just type in the search box.  Most of the Snowy Owls that I have seen were ones that were previously reported on eBird.  The owl in the second photograph above was one that I found on my own simply by observing the fields as I drove home from work.

If you go out looking for Snowy Owls please remember that these owls are best enjoyed from a distance. If the owl keeps looking at you with fully open eyes, stands erect, or takes flight then you are getting too close.

Native Species Profile - Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)

Most people don't understand birders.  The idea of going birding (looking for and recording bird sightings) is seen as odd a lot of people.  Why would you go looking for birds - birds are just there.  They're around us every day - they are so common that they fade into the background and become part of the scenery.

Despite my other nature obsessions, I will admit that I don't bird (the verb).  It takes a lot of bird (the noun) to get me excited enough to go bird (the verb).  One of he few species that excites the general public (and me) enough to go birding is the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus).  A Snowy Owl is not so much a bird (the noun) as it is an event.

Snowy Owl - Isabella County, MI (December 2014)

The winter of 2017 - 2018 looks to be a big year for fans of the Snowy Owl.  There have already been dozens of sighting of Snowy Owls in Michigan and birds have been reported as far south as Missouri and Virginia.  Some years the population of Snowy Owls moves southward in large numbers during the winter months.  This movement is known as an irruption - the last big irruption was in 2013 and 2017-18 looks like it will be even bigger.

The exact cause of irruptions is not well known.  It may be tied to downswing in the population of Arctic lemmings, the owls major food source.  When lemming populations fall, birds must come south to find enough food.  it may also be related to upswings in lemming population - more lemmings available during the breeding season means more young birds survive to adulthood. When there are more owls in the Arctic some of them must come south to find enough food.  I tend to believe this latter explanation because a large percentage of the irrupting Snowy Owls tend to be immature birds.

One of the reason Snowy Owls are so exciting is that they are large birds.  They measure 20 to 28 inches long and have wingspans of 49 to 57 inches.  As is typical of raptors, females are usually larger than males.  The Snowy Owl is the heaviest owl species in North America weighing 3.5 to 6.5 pounds; the Great Horned Owl, Mid-Michigan's largest resident owl weighs an average of 2.0 to 5.5 pounds.

Snowy Owls are primarily white.  Females and immature birds will have dark brown or black barring on the wings, back, and chest.  Mature males are pure white or nearly so.  Both male and female birds have bright yellow eyes

Another reason that Snowy Owls are so exciting is the fact that they are diurnal.  This means that they are active during the daytime.  Combined with the fact that they prefer open areas such as fields to wooded areas and they become easy to find.  (I say easy to find, but in January of this year it took us three trips to find one of several that had been reported nearby for weeks.)  Snowy Owls often rest on the ground - their native tundra has few trees and the birds are used to perching on the ground.  Birds that are part of the irruption often perch on utility poles so they can better see their surrounding.

Snowy Owl - Gratiot County, MI (January 2017)

Basic Information

Snowy Owl
Bubo scandiacus

Habitat:  Arctic tundra; birds may overwinter in the Continental United States, over-wintering birds usually found in open areas such as fields, prairies, airports, golf courses

Size:  20 - 28 inches long with a 49 - 57 inch wingspan, females are typically larger than males

Diet:  small mammals, birds

Snowy Owls in Mid-Michigan (2017)

For approximately the last month, two (or maybe three) Snowy Owls have been found in the fields a few miles southeast of Alma.  Twice Shara and I drove through the area where people sighted them.

No luck.

Several people that I know, both serious birders and casual birders have had success in seeing at least one of the owls.

Yesterday we decided to give it another try.  We drove right back to the same location that we had visited before and slowly drove down the road.

Success! Finally!  Shara spied the bird out in a field, about 100 yards away, perched atop a small snow bank.  We pulled over and observed the owl for about 15 minutes, with hope that it would fly somewhere we could get a better (closer) view of it.

It was not to be, but we can say that we saw it.  We both snapped several photos.  The pictures are nothing special, but as this is only the third Snowy Owl that either of us has seen they are special to us.

To find recently sightings of Snow Owls (and other birds) visit eBird.  This website allows people to post data and photos of their sightings and is a valuable tool both for birders and scientists.  The report that I filed for this owl can be found here.

Owls, owls, everywhere!

Keeping with the recent theme of owls... I have seen two in the past twenty-four hours.  A Barred Owl crossed the road in front of me at dusk last night and then today I saw this beauty along the road in northwest Isabella County.

Snowy Owl near Weidman, MI (09 DEC 2014)

This Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) has been hanging around the same general location since Thanksgiving Day.  I found it along Weidman Road., between Littlefield Road and Gilmore Road.  At one point a flock of Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) swooped around over the owl's head - two arctic tundra species meeting in Mid-Michigan.  It makes you wonder if these individuals migrated from the same location only meet up again here.

Snowy Owl and Snow Buntings near Weidman, MI (09 DEC 2014)