Finally, a Snowy Owl graces us with its beauty! Normally this would be a common sighting, but Milwaukee County has not had one since the beginning of 2022. We are usually spoiled with anywhere between one to five of them during the winter months. It’s nice to end the snowy drought though. This owl was found sitting atop a chimney vent, in a residential neighborhood, in Bayview. By the time we figured out where it was exactly, it was almost 3:35pm. I didn’t even get there until right around 4pm. Soon, there were at least 20 or so from the bird community, and then another 15-25 neighbors and passersby. People were in awe of this exquisite owl, so close to everyone. Cars were slowing down and looking as well. It turned out to be quite an awesome event. It’s always nice to be able to chat with friends, while photographing birds. I stayed until it flew away, which was close to 4:45pm. It flew off to the southeast. By then, it was pretty dark out already. Photos below are from the late afternoon, 12/20. Enjoy!
A couple of these photos were featured on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel website today, in a very nice article written by Paul Smith. I think they might be in the sports section tomorrow as well. If you would like to read the article, click on the link below.
These are fantastic Jeremy!!
Thank you!
Love your photos Jeremy! Did someone ID the bird it was eating? Coot?
Thank you Tom! I was pretty confident in calling it an American Coot at first but there is one photo where it looks like the foot may be webbed. Most ducks though, have white below and this bird was all dark with no coloring. For that reason, I left that out of the story.
These are beautiful and glad the bird is finding food. Thank you for sharing and Merry Christmas!
Thank you! Yes it is always nice to see a migrating owl with food. Merry Christmas!
Wow! Terrific photos!
Thank you very much!