Visiting Snowy Owl
“Now there’s something you don’t see every day!”
As I stepped off the boat to goto work (late, as usual) this big boy was sitting on an ice flow just behind the boat. While I went back in to grab my camera, he took up a perch on an electrical box on the dock across from us. I’m not sure how common Snowy Owl’s are here, but this is the first one I’ve seen in 17 years here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area.)
Any ornithologists out there? How common is this bird in Toronto?
6 Comments
Angie
Wow, that is amazing. Your pics turned out better than mine. Mine are pretty far away. I’ll try and upload ’em soon. AR
4T4RD
A snowy owl?!! What’s next….a polar bear out on the ice?!
World Bird Sanctuary
He’s a big one! Thanks for posting this photo. I love owls. We’re raising a clutch of barn owls for release at the sanctuary right now.
Dave
Nice pix’s but you don’t have a big boy. You have a big girl. Female snowy owls have more dark barring than the males. They do prefer to live in tundra areas, but they will migrate when their food soure dwindles. They prefer lemings and other rodents, but will eat other small prey. They prefer to eat prey whole but will tear up larger prey. She’ll stick around as long as there’s a food source and then probably head back home when it starts to dwindle down also. Mating season is also around the corner.
Sara
How marvelous to find this bird in your own “backyard” ! This is an immature Snowy Owl, probably a first year female because of the extensive black barring in the feathers. An older Snowy is nearly all white in color. In winter, a few Snowy Owls, especially young birds, do range south to the northern U.S. In years when food supplies (small mammals) are limited in northern Canada, many more owls may be seen in southern Canada and into the U.S. This winter, few northern owls have moved south, so your bird is especially nice.
Dave
The female snowy owl keeps its dark barring all its life. The male snowy owl is the one that gets lighter with age.