Snowy Owl in Massachusetts (Jan 13)

When Susan and I recently traveled to New England to see family and friends, we'd heard of an irruption of Snowy Owls in the Parker River NWR, on Plum Island near Newburyport, MA. We'd been to Parker River before, in May 2012.

Fun sign at the entrance to Parker River NWR :-)

We'd only seen a Snowy Owl once before, here in Colorado during an irruption in January 2012.

We dragged our friend Steve from Nashua out with us and went off in search of a Snowy Owl. We were almost immediately rewarded with distant views of three different owls, and we spent a fair amount of time observing them with binoculars, wishing they were closer.

The first of the distant Snowy Owls we saw at Parker River NWR

Wild Turkey along the road at Parker River

Second Snowy Owl

Our third Snowy Owl!

And then on the way out of Plum Island we got to see a fourth one fairly close off the road. He was feeding on something, perhaps a small bird or vole.

We observed (along with a lot of others who'd pulled off the road too) for awhile until he flew off to land on a nearby house.

Then we went in to Newburyport to celebrate our birding success by eating dinner at Loretta. We got wonderful attention of the owner, some nice Irish stout and an excellent meal.