/center>Jeanette and I have seen 9 different species of Owl (6 in NJ) and we were looking for number 10. Perhaps Jeanette’s “most wanted” is the beautiful Snowy Owl. In some of the more northern states there has been a push of Snowy Owls coming south, and we were hoping one would make it close enough for us to chase. On Friday, Edna & Ray Duffy posted information and pictures on the New Jersey Birding list of a Snowy Owl in Norwalk Connecticut. This would be our perfect opportunity.
The bird was about an hour and fifty minutes from our house.The “chase” is a part of birding that I really enjoy. I love the opportunity and possibilities a reported rarity provides. It is a lot of fun to chase a bird and then see it with a group of birders also excited to share in the discovery. There is nothing like sharing your personal first view of a Roseate Spoonbill as it flies over a group of 20 excited birders. Or the joy in seeing a Townsend’s Solitaire, an Ash-throated Flycatcher and a Western Kingbird all in the same afternoon. When these moments are over, everyone turns to each other to reflect and rejoice at their luck in being a part of something so exhilarating.
We hoped this early morning trip to Connecticut would also provide some excitement. Now, this particular Snowy Owl had been around for a while and was already a local celebrity having been on multiple local news channels. So we hoped we weren’t too late.
We arrived at Calf Pasture Beach Park as it was opening (6:45ish) and made our way around the park to the reported spot. As we got out of the car we saw him sitting on a small pier that is close to two other, smaller jetties a couple hundred yards away. We were in the first group of people out of our cars, but a fisherman managed to get out ahead of us. He scared the owl off after he was asked to wait before making his way out to the end of the pier. Apparently, the fish needed to be caught that second. Luckily, the Owl put down on the middle jetty (his favorite we hear) rather than flying across the water as he did yesterday. And just like that, we got to bask in the exhilaration once more.
The Owl sat and watched as we hemmed and hawed over him from a respectable distance. The overcast day made the lighting bad but nothing could dim the beauty of our lifer Snowy Owl!
P.S. The fish must not have been in such a rush to be caught as the fisherman left before we did, with no fish to speak of.
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