More Snowy Owls in the Region
Besides the Snowy Owl fished out of the Hudson River near the USS Slater in mid-November (status report on that owl on Tuesday was that he is nearly ready to be released back into the wild) and the snowy on the UAlbany campus on November 25th, there have been a number of reports of Snowy Owl sightings in Ft. Edward NY.
Don and Sher of Are We There Yet? blog captured a couple images and posted them in their "Pair of Snowy Owls" post.
And local nature photographer Ken Harper has two great images on his website at Peliken Photos.
If you venture up there in search of the birds, remember to always be respectful of the bird(s) so they are not subject to stress. No photographic image or sighting is worth harming a bird.
Upstate New York author Bruce Hiscock wrote and illustrated a children's book about the snowy owl called "Ookpik: The Travels of a Snowy Owl".
When the Snowy Owl's main food source in northern Canada declines, the owl flies south to the grasslands of northern New York. You will really enjoy sharing this story with your children, as it tells of the challenges faced by this magnificent bird.
We were lucky enough to have Bruce in the store this October to sign copies of his childrens books.
"Ookpik: The Travels of a Snowy Owl" is available at Wild Birds Unlimited - Saratoga Springs.
Anonymous - I'd been hearing of snowies in the Halfmoon area but what a treat to have one in your yard. I will post a Snowy Owl update within the week and will include your special visit. Thanks for the report!
Posted by: The Zen Birdfeeder | January 21, 2009 at 09:19 PM
There was a large snowy owl in my back yard in Halfmoon, N.Y. this morning. It had discovered the rabbits living under my deck for the winter. Unfortunately, one or two of them won't see spring..... I never saw one before. It stared at me through the window before the crows harassed it enough to have it fly a short distance away. I had to go to work, so I wasn't able to see where it flew away to or if it was able to keep it's kill. Are they an endangered species? Never heard anyone I know say they ever saw one around here.
Posted by: | January 20, 2009 at 09:02 PM
Dakota - how could I be mad?? Thanks for visiting my blog and thanks for the tag. I'll post my response soon. I've added your blog link too. Hope you visit and keep up the birding and blogging!
Posted by: The Zen Birdfeeder | December 08, 2008 at 11:36 PM
Susan & Tom - thanks for your comment and I'm glad I could point you to some great pictures of the owls you saw. Hope you stop by the blog often!
LNMP - Thanks for stopping in and introducing yourself. Always nice to put a face to the name.
Posted by: The Zen Birdfeeder | December 08, 2008 at 10:59 PM
I love Snowy Owls!
I tagged you for a top five meme, I hope you aren't mad!
http://birdfreak.com/dakota/2008/12/07/top-five-meme/
Good birding and cheer to you!
Posted by: Dakota | December 07, 2008 at 07:02 PM
Hi, Nancy - Nice to meet you at your store today after seeing one of the Snowy Owls in Fort Edward!
Posted by: LNMP | December 06, 2008 at 06:35 PM
We just came back from seeing the two gorgeous snow owls on Rt. 42, but didn't have our camera. So it was a a delightful surprise to find pictures of "our" birds on your website.
Susan & Tom
Saratoga Springs
Posted by: Susan & Tom | December 06, 2008 at 12:27 PM