Susan Kirby

The Magnificent Snowy Owls

I saw my first snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) in the wild on December 20, 2017, on Staten Island. I was walking on the sand, looking for the owl but seeing only gulls, when I turned and saw what I first thought was an overturned paint bucket. What a joy to see this largest of the North American owls hanging out on a cold beach in New York City! I spent three and a half hours watching the owl, two hours pretty much by myself. I returned to Staten Island again and found more owls, then also found snowy owls on the beaches of Breezy Point and Fort Tilden in Queens in 2018. What a joy to see these animals!

An Irruption of Snowy Owls 2021-2022

We are always excited to have an irruption of snowy owls, for the youngsters often find their way in numbers to the beaches around New York City and the surrounding states. In 2021-2022, we have had reports of snowy owls in Connecticut, Long Island, Brooklyn, and Queens, and I have visited three sites to photograph them. Because the snowy owls can be harassed and therefore harmed by too many human visitors, I will not give exact locations for these birds until after they have left the area.

The snowy owls in this slideshow were seen at Long Beach, Connecticut, Breezy Point, Queens, and Nickerson Beach, Long Island, in January 2022.

A Rare Visitor to Central Park

On January 27, 2021, a young snowy owl was sighted on the ballfield in the North Meadow of Central Park. Before this date, no snowy owl had been seen in Manhattan since 1890. Of course, New York birders flocked to the park to see this young beauty, and I was one of them. What a joy! The owl was harassed by crows, a red-tailed hawk and a Cooper’s hawk (not to mention an illegal drone), but not by people, thanks to the amazing Urban Park Rangers who protected the famous visitor.

I will travel for hours and walk miles to see a snowy owl. It was wonderful to see one so close to home. My understanding is that the owl flew out after 5 p.m. and was heading southeast.

A Winter Home on Long Island

The snowy owl in this grid was seen on December 30, 2020, and January 17, 2021, at Jones Beach, Long Island.

Sleeping and Dining at Breezy Point

Staten Island Snowy Owls

This first set of photos were taken on December 20, 2017.

Watching Snowy Owls, Again and Again on Video

I have been doing separate Filming the Feathers videos for the snowy owls for the different days I saw them. In this first video, you can skip to minute 1:30 to see a bit of "action" (pooping, then walking around), and then later go to around minute 14, when the bird raises her eyelids to show those yellow, yellow eyes! In most of the other videos, there is very little "action" besides head-turning, which is actually a good thing because it means I didn't get too close and disturb the bird!

Day 2 and Day 3 videos are below. Both are much shorter, and contain more photos because the videos were so jumpy and shaky (it was bitter cold!). The owl on Day 3 may be a different owl than the one on Days 1 and 2. You'll notice that the white on the chest goes deeper for the Day 1 and Day 2 owl than it does on the Day 3 owl. We had heard there were two owls seen that day, so we might have seen the second one.

Days 4 and 5 are combined in one video, also shot on Staten Island. The Day 6 video features two snowy owls seen at Breezy Point, Queens, on February 27, 2018.

Days 7, 8 and 9 were on the beach at Breezy Point and Fort Tilden in March 2018.

These images are screen shots from videos taken March 15, 2018.