Snowy Owl in Florida

Snowy Owl

My father and I drove up to see the Snowy Owl at Little Talbot Island State Park that was seen yesterday. It's a beautiful bird! Apparently I saw one in Eureka, CA when I was a kid, but I don't remember seeing it, so it's not on my list. This is a lifer for me. It was hanging out on the beach by a fallen palm tree, and then later it flew toward the water. It was windy and pouring down rain most of the time we were there, and even the shelters provided little relief from the rain with all the wind; my clothes were soaked, but it was worth it. We kept our distance from the owl, so these photos are pretty heavily cropped.

Snowy Owl

If you go to visit the owl, it's pretty easy to find. Drive to the south parking lot and look for the birders. There's a road that continues south past the parking lot. You can follow that road to where it turns toward the beach; when the road hits the sand, you should be able to have good views of the owl if it hasn't moved. There's really no need to approach the owl. Apparently before we arrived some birders were approaching the owl too closely, but while we were there everybody seemed well behaved. To my knowledge, this is only the 3rd sighting of a Snowy Owl in Florida.

Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl