"With luck, it might even snow for us."
― Haruki Murakami
We're not going to have a snowy Christmas, but there are many Snowy Owls around. I photographed the above owl before lunchtime today just north of Middleton along Pheasant Branch Road. Was it luck? Not at all. I've been following sightings on eBird. This particular area north of Middleton seems to be a regular spot for them during Snowy Owl irruptions; Pheasant Branch and Fisher Roads. Or maybe it's just that there are so many around and they recognize good habitat when they find it. Have a look at the following map ― these are SNOW (that's their 4-letter banding code, by the way) sightings for just the month of December 2021:
Incredible, isn't it? Even around the Madison area there have been quite a few sightings:
Most Snowy Owls I've come across are usually perched atop telephone poles or other manmade structures. But here's one of my better quality Snowy Owl portraits from around a decade ago situated in a more natural setting:
Naturally, with any boreal owl irruption comes the photog paparazzi and owling ethics conflicts/debates. Egads, I'm so grateful not to be on public birding forums any longer. However, last winter I did shout at some bonehead who trespassed onto private property to get a photograph of a Snowy Owl ― WI license plate [813 TBE], red Toyota. Do you know him? Tell him I said "Bonehead!"
All images © 2021 Mike McDowell