12 August 2014. Hamilton, ON. Frankly I don’t know quite what to make of this; a Snowy Owl. Here? and now? A Snowy Owl is a marvel at any time. We saw loads of them six or seven months ago when a major population irruption occurred and individual Snowies were reported far and wide across North America, even as far south as northern Florida; but that was winter when we half expect them. But a Snowy Owl in August! In Southern Ontario!
Well one showed up just a week ago. It’s been a little elusive, but tonight I found it sitting atop a utilitarian, concrete-block building in an industrial park on the fringes of our deep-water harbour.
I took several photos. The white building in the background was quite a challenge but it also created some compositional opportunities. Here is a gallery of those photos, (visible only on the website, not if you’re reading this as an email.) More photos can be found here.
I checked several reference books and websites looking for corroborative support, but could find scarcely a word about mid-summer oddities such as this. They don’t even breed in Ontario’s farthest north; it’s still not Arctic enough for them. Our pre-eminent local area authority noted extreme dates of May19th (a lingering winter bird) and September 26th (earliest arrival). But eBird, a fairly new, on-line, interactive, bird sightings website reveals that August sightings are not entirely unheard of; they’re very few and far between, but they do happen, including one reported along the Hudson River, near the Statue of Liberty in August 2009.
It all leaves me a little breathless.
Amazing! Nearest to me would be the very far northern isles of Scotland on a return visit to the UK – probably easier to visit yours! Would have been a new “lifer” for me and your photos are so clear and sharp. Well done, Pete. By the way, what camera equipment were you using please?
Bob Wright