Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Really nice shots! They look pleased to have found their way back to the wintering area (Snowy Owls always seem to look content).

Claire

Those are super shots, crunchpa. Thanks.

Wisconsin has had about 70+ sightings this winter, unfortunately, none by me. :(

tj

Correction: As of Dec. 20 there were 174 snowies sighted in Wisconsin compared to 123 at the same time last year. Last year, BTW, ended up a record year.

This post was edited by tsugajunkie on Tue, Dec 30, 14 at 21:25

Beautiful pics! I wonder why they are coming more south. Is the change in northern climates?

eBird has a current birdcast Species on the move: Snowy Owl which says

"This irruption was most likely related to an abundance of rodents in and around northern Quebec that helped Snowy Owl pairs produce large numbers of young that irrupted into the US."

Gotta feed all those kids somehow and sending them south worked last year.

Claire

This map shows distribution of Snowy Owls. Last years bitter weather had owls reported in the deep south. This year not as far. You may be seeing more owls in Wisconsin while the overall irruption numbers are less.The Snowy Owls in this area have attracted media attention and visitors from quite a distance away. There is a reasonable expectation of seeing one on Presque Isle S.P. Its a couple mile hike to see them in the same spot as last year on the sandy tip of the peninsula that sticks out into Lake Erie. People like a Snowy Owl. The birds seem indifferent to the attention as they do little to avoid it. They are not the hardest bird to get a photo of.

Here is a link that might be useful: Snowy Owl map

Very nice shots! Thanks for sharing; especially the last one with the blue in the background...

The Snowy Owls are still hanging around but now that the lake ice has formed they are a little further from view. I saw this woodpecker on the way to view the owls.
{{gwi:2132420}}

It keeps gettin' better and better for you! :)

Beautiful pictures!

I can't see the woodpecker picture. Picasa just says "Sorry, that page was not found."

Claire

Sorry,let me try again. Starting to see the hawks more often. My nephew has eagles building a nest near his cabin. Maybe spring is around the corner. We had a foot of snow last night, wishful thinking.

{{gwi:2132421}}

Thanks! It's a great pic of a Pileated Woodpecker and I like the line of snow on the tree. I'm afraid that spring is going to take its own sweet time getting here.

Claire

wonder pictures !

Beautiful! Until now I did not know that the snowy owl came this far South in the winter. My grandson is up in Marquette at NMU, I'll have to tell him to keep an eye out for them.