A Snowy Owl at Charlotte Pier

Dawn and I went to the Charlotte Pier at the Port of Rochester (home of the once and future fast ferry, the Spirit of Ontario) to see if we could find the Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandica) about which we had been hearing reports for the past couple of weeks. We located the owl very quickly. Unfortunately for us, it was on the Sommerville Pier which lies several tens of meters to the east of the Charlotte Pier, and runs parallel to it. We made the five-minute walk back to the parking lot, and headed up the road. After several wrong turns (I'm unfamiliar with that part of town), we found our way to the Coast Guard station where we could get access to the Sommerville Pier.

We met Granny and Lou as they were leaving, and Granny showed me a couple of the pictures she'd taken of the owl flying along the pier. We walked out onto the pier with care-- the weather was cold and gusty, and there were no guard rails to keep one from falling into the chilly water. We set up our Kowa spotting scope well back from the owl, not knowing how close we'd be able to get. Here's the first good look we had of the bird:


Here's a shot at maximum zoom from the end of the pier:


The view from the scope was even better, though every gust of wind blurred the picture. The owl seemed unconcerned by our presence, so we brought the scope forward some more, and I crept out for some closer shots. The bird was alert, and turned its head often toward me, but just as often, it appeared to be napping:



Over on the other pier, Marcia, Carol (is that you all bundled up?) and Brian H were watching through Marcia's scope:


Dawn joined me, and we moved toward the bird one slow step at a time until we got quite close. Here are a couple of pictures:




You can really see its gorgeous amber eyes in these shots!

Finally, I think the owl grew tired of us curiosity-seekers, because it took off, its strong, steady wingbeats carrying it westward across the water to the Charlotte Pier:


From the dark plumage on its head, we believe this is a juvenile male. The fact that he's been here at the southern end of his wintering range probably indicates that his normal food supply-- voles, ground mice, and similar rodents-- are in short supply. I created an Ofoto album with the full sized versions of these images, plus a few more. You can view it here.

What a great way to experience a life bird!