How To Find SNOWY OWLS

I'm not going to tell you where a snowy owl is, but I will tell you where it was and how you can find another one. Well, if ever there was a time to look for a snowy owl, it's when it's snowy. In fact, at this point every owl is snowy. I'm going to help you find a snowy owl and I'm going to do it here at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island in Massachusetts. Parker River has a reputation for snowy owls. Two have already been spotted this month. Wait, does that make them spotted owls? Anyway, snowy owls have been seen here. Short-eared owls have been seen here already this month. It's a good place for owls. That's good news and bad news. I'll get to the bad news in a moment. The good news is snowy owls can be very visible, especially where it's flat and open like this and in places like this guy. Snowy owls breed in the arctic tundra. They don't even know what a tree is unless they come south. They will perch in a tree, but it's not common and I've only seen it once. Where they will perch is someplace where they get a good view because they hunt in daylight, they're fast, they'll chase down what their prey is, and so they're perched up somewhere where they can see and can be seen. When they erupt south they look for places that look like their arctic tundra. So that would be big frozen salt marshes, that would be shorelines perhaps along the ocean, that would be big fields. Parker River has all three. So when they are hunting they perch on things like rocks, mounds, or in this case some places rooftops, telephone poles. Especially where I am there are lots of salt marshes near the ocean where a lot of people like to put their houses. Owls, for whatever reason, will come to these places and sit right up there where you can see them. Beneford Pool in Maine is one of those places on the rooftops in many winters and that's not a good thing. And this one, this was in Wells Harbor a few years ago. It liked to be on rooftops around the harbor parking lot. It would like to be on the light pole right where everybody is. Usually there's at least one on the mountaintops of Acadia National Park and there they have only rocks to perch on. And good luck climbing up there in the winter, it gets really icy. Last time I was here at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge it was just sitting right out in the field. In an actual salt marsh seeing them in the ground is common. In fact what you look for is just a white blob out there in the middle. If you see that, take a second look. Though I gotta say the snow is letting up and ending just about the time they forecast it would. That'll give me another chance to find an owl. But this is my third day here and so far nobody has reported seeing a snowy owl. You know it's a cold day when the Canada geese find the warmest place to sit is on frozen ice. If I did that my butt would stick to it. First day here it was so cold the sea smoke on the ocean was impressive. American tree sparrows nest all across North America from Newfoundland to Alaska. The estimated worldwide population is 25 million and when they come south in the winter all 25 million come to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. Never seen so many. There are 50 just like right here. A 50, flock of 50 American tree sparrows right here. It's all this salt marsh grass. It's got so many seeds the sparrows love it. Song sparrows can winter over here just fine. And then along the roadsides there's a lot of fruit, a lot of berries so the robins and cardinals and mockingbirds thrive here all winter. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge is part of Great Marsh, the largest salt marsh in New England. It's 20 to 30,000 acres of marsh, mudflats, islands, sandy beaches, dunes and tidal rivers. Parker River is just a small 4,600 acre piece of that. In winter unusual seabirds are just right offshore and gulls and sanderlings own the beaches. Sun worshipers like this beach in summer but so do piping plovers and leased terns. Certain sections of the beach are set off for protection of these endangered species. But the biggest wildlife management problem here is owls because people love them to death. As I said this is a great place for snowy owls but short-eared owls have been seen here even more this week and there's a barred owl that's been entertaining people a lot, probably too much. I mean short-eared owl, I can't believe this one is just sitting there in this tree. I haven't seen a short-eared owl this clearly since Noma, Alaska, what was it three, four years ago? Oh wow, just wow. Short-eared owls at this latitude tend to be out of daybreak and maybe an hour or two before sundown. They hunt the same way northern harriers do over the same habitat and they look like giant moths. Since short-eared owls and northern harriers use the same habitat and hunt the same way, I always wondered what happens when they encounter each other. Turns out the short-eared owl has a little bit of a temper. Anyway, too many people crowd these owls and sometimes the refuge managers have to actually close the refuge because too many people are misbehaving. I mean look, somebody buys a $16,000 800 millimeter lens so they can get close-up photos and then they get close up. They've even had problems with people chasing barred owls in here. Barred owls nest in my yard. Geez, give them a break. In Maine, where I'm from, the largest Facebook group, over 20,000 members won't let you even post an owl photo for fear that it's going to inspire people to go out there and compete for the best photo. Likewise, you've got to draw the line somewhere. eBird does put down a pin where snowy owls and short-eared owls have been seen but will not do it for great gray owls and northern hawk owls. That's okay by me because frankly some of the places snowy owls go and short-eared owls go are pretty well known and there's a better way to handle it. Just make sure people are careful when you're there. Nope, no owls up here. All these northern owls are eruptive. When there's a big bumper crop of lemmings up above the arctic circle, there's a bumper crop of baby owls produced and in winter when they're all struggling to find food, they will wander much more. So some years, a lot of them come down from Canada. Some years are bigger than others. 2018 was the biggest year I can remember for eruptive snowy owls coming down. It was amazing. Last year, not many came down at all. This year, they're coming down in bigger numbers but still not huge. Sometimes snowy owls choose places that have people around and they get used to them. They tolerate them a little more. It's a little harder to disturb them but you can still do it. If an owl is staring at you, it's nervous. Now a casual owl may look at you now and then make sure nothing's going on but if he's staring, he's nervous back off. Show respect. In a more remote location, owls are going to be nervous from farther away so show a lot more respect in those places. So bottom line, here's how you find a snowy owl. First, use eBird, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's free online app. It'll tell you where birds are being seen. For instance, I knew before I ever got here that short-eared owls are being seen regularly. Snowy owls at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge have been sort of sporadic so far this December. Second, know what the habitat preference is. Both those owls, snowy owl and short-eared owls, love big marshy area, big salt marsh area like this. Third, know where they're likely to perch. Know what they're likely to do. Snowy owls are likely to be sitting on the ground somewhere out in the open where they have a great view. Generally, perched up on something just off the ground. Short-eared owls are likely to be coming out at dawn and dusk, maybe within an hour and 90 minutes of those time periods before they settle down for the day and you can't see them again. Fourth, and most importantly, if you don't find a snowy owl, enjoy everything else. Sunset at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge is just amazing. The northern harriers rule the day. Short-eared owls rule the night during that period when they're out together. Wow, I really should come to this refuge more often than just winter.