Snowy Owl

   I have been waiting for a good opportunity to spot my first snowy owl.  Snowy Owls are not normally seen in these parts.  They breed in the Arctic and normally winter in northern Canada.  Apparently there was a bumper crop of lemmings this past summer and most of the owl chicks survived to adulthood.  They have been forced to migrate much farther south this winter to find food.  Jim McCormick's blog, as usual, has excellent posts on this topic.

Today, the weather was beautiful and I had nothing in particular to occupy my time.  There was a report that an owl had been seen this morning at Maumee Bay State Park.  Hudson and I seized the moment.

Sure enough, we spotted the owl on the rocky shoreline of an inland lake - at the end of the little peninsula in the photo above.

Since I am rather deficient in the camera lens power department, I slowly walked out the peninsula to get closer.  I was not careful enough, however, and he took off.

I later realized there were serious bird people on the far shore.  They were not deficient in the camera lens power department.  

I can only hope they didn't recognize me.  So far, the birding website where I learned of the owl has not posted a scolding.