RARE Snowy Owl Returns to Ocracoke – North Carolina
Ocracoke went on alert to the possibility that a snowy owl would return here when one was seen Dec. 29 on Pea Island. According to OBX Today, the bird was seen and photographed the next day a few miles away by Brian Patterson. Subsequent off-and-on sightings continued. The Island Free Press reported one on Jan. 7 perched on a house in Hatteras village, increasing the expectations that it would show up on Ocracoke.
"My daughter, Elizabeth, and her boyfriend, Walker Garrish, saw it yesterday," said Susan Aiken, a part-time islander. "We walk our two dogs daily at the same location at the South Point, and Walker noticed something unusual in the dunes he sees everyday," Elizabeth said. "It turned out to be a Snowy Owl." The bird was back at the same location today (Thursday, Jan. 14) when I was able to photograph it. Eventually, it flew off and perched on dead trees in the expansive salt flat of South Point. One of the largest and heaviest owls in the world, Snowy Owls have the most northerly breeding and wintering distribution of any of the 230 world-wide owl species. As their name indicates, adult males are almost pure white; adult females are white with more extensive black markings giving them a salt-and pepper appearance. Young males resemble adult females, but have more spotting on their flight feathers. It takes several years for males to acquire their nearly pure white adult plumage.