Second time’s the charm! – Snowy Owl in St. Catharines, Ontario

Back in mid-February I joined the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology on a four day trip through Ontario, in search of  boreal specialties. On the first day of the trip, we visited Amherst Island and were treated to distant views of a Snowy Owl. By distant, I mean really distant – the owl was basically just a white blob far out in a field, even through spotting scopes. Occasionally the owl would fly to a new perch and prove it really was a Snowy. It is hard to complain when you are looking at a Snowy Owl, but we all really would have liked closer looks. Luckily, on the last day of our trip we made special arrangements to swing past a continuing Snowy Owl near St. Catharines on our way to Niagara Falls. When we arrived at the location that had been mapped out on eBird for the owl, we spotted it right away. The owl was sitting on the ground and sleeping within 150ft of the road! We had started off the trip with a really distant Snowy and were ending the trip with a super close Snowy! Below is a photo as well as a short video that I took using my iPhone and a spotting scope – I would recommend using the HD option when viewing the video.

Snowy Owl near St. Catharines - possibly an adult male because of how white it is? (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Snowy Owl near St. Catharines – possibly an adult male because of how white it is? (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)