Snowy Owl Sighting!

I woke up this morning and decided to check for Snowy Owl sightings on the Audubon Bird Guide App and was delighted to see some recent sightings in the Lancaster, PA area. This is Amish country, so I knew there was a vast amount of farm land for the Owl to make it’s home. I grabbed my gear and made my way toward the hot spot of sightings. Almost two hours later and I was in the area, just after sunrise. This was the easiest bird to spot since there were a dozen other photographers standing in a pasture as I arrived. I pulled off the road and jumped out with my camera.

I watched from the side of a shed as the Snowy Owl hobbled it’s way from the top of the shed to underneath the solar panel. It’s not the most graceful of walking birds. I walked around the fence line to get a better angle, along with the other photographers. This is my second owl sighting in my life, after the Burrowing Owl of Aruba. I asked another fellow birder if the Owl would do anything other than sit on the shed all day. He stated that it will likely be here until sundown, when it begins hunting for food. Considering my hands were already numb from the 25 degree weather, I grabbed a few more pics and got back in the car. I would love to have a picture of a Snowy Owl in flight, so I might need to plan ahead a bit more in the future to accomplish that one.