RARE Snowy Owl Returns to Ocracoke – North Carolina
Circumpoler, Snowies nest in the Arctic tundra of the northernmost stretches of Alaska, Northern Canada and Eurosiberia. The normal wintering range is difficult to know, but it is believed some may stay in the Arctic and others migrate south throughout Canada and the northern areas of the United States.They are rare in North Carolina. Periodically, massive numbers of them will move farther south in what is described as an irruption. Such was the case in the winter of 2013-2014 when more than a dozen sightings occurred in the state. On Dec. 27, 2013, Islander Kelley Shinn was at South Point and spotted a snowy owl standing on a dune. She soon ran into Lisa Day Eiland who had a camera and took some photos. On Dec. 30 at the South Point, just in time for the island's Christmas Bird Count, two Snowy Owls appeared together at dusk.