The question that been coming my way since last spring was will the Snowy Owls that spent the winter in larger numbers than ever before in our area last winter return to spend another winter. Simple, straight forward question but not an easy one to answer. This historic incursion points out just how little we know about not only Snowy Owls but pretty much everything else as well.
Well the short answer is that they are back, so far in much smaller numbers but nonetheless they are back, widespread and in some numbers. This past cold and windy weekend saw an arrival of Snowy Owls all over eastern Massachusetts and one or more Snowy Owls were spotted on Plum Island, several individuals at Logan Airport, Duxbury Beach, Sandy Neck in Barnstable, Nauset Beach in Orleans and on Great Point, Nantucket. They arrived in some numbers and a bit earlier than past year when the first birds showed up over the Thanksgiving Holiday.
The Snowy Owls seem to be from a bit further west than last year and already the Great Lakes region and Midwest have large numbers of birds being reported. Last winter’s irruption of Snowy Owls sparked so much interest from not only birders but pretty much everyone that Project Snowstorm was formed. Snowy Owls were trapped and moved away from airports, notably Logan where over 100 Snowy Owls were removed from runways and potential fatal encounters with jet aircraft, and some 22 Snowy Owls were fitted with these new tracking devices all over the Midwest and eastern part of the country that download information to cell phone towers, not through satellites.
The information, the data that was gathered was incredible. The data transmitted showed whether it was day or night, if the bird was flying, the altitude of the bird and all sorts of things that were just not possible from satellites. It turns out that virtually all of the owls were young birds, trying to survive their first winter
As this goes on air there are Snowy Owls arriving in small numbers in several places in Massachusetts including Newburyport and Plum Island, Duxbury Beach and several reported from the Connecticut River Valley as well as all over the Cape and Islands. More are certainly not far behind. Whether the birds will return to where they successfully overwintered last year remains to be seen. Last year most birds arrived in the 2 weeks following Thanksgiving. Time will tell if they will return to where the living was relatively easy for them in their first winter.
The Snowy Owls are not the only owls on the move and impressive numbers of the smallest owl in eastern North America, the Saw-whet Owl have been moving south from boreal forests in large numbers. Several banding operations that broadcast the birds’ calls have had recent nights when over 100 Saw-whets flew into the nets. It looks like the winter of 2014/2015 will be a winter season full of owls. With Thanksgiving just 8 days out is seems the Cape and Islands are in for an exciting time.
