Snowy & Short-eared Owls, Stratford CT, Jan 3 2018
Happy New Year, all. Yesterday morning I finally had a chance to look for local SNOWY OWLS...probably the last birder in the state to do so, as this winter's significant southward movement of this species hit the region a full month ago. Sightings have been consistent since then, so apparently several birds have settled into prime locations for the winter. One of these locations is Long Beach in Stratford, CT, which is consistently a top spot to find Snowy Owls in the state. The adjacent saltmarsh & vicinity likely holds enough food to support multiple owls, whether they're after rodents or waterfowl. It didn't take long to spot two of them (there have been 3-4 individuals reported here recently) - dark young females roosting in the marsh separated by fifty yards or so. That was a bit too close for one of the owls, which decided to chase the other one off. Both birds eventually settled separately in the marsh and did not seem in a hurry to move anywhere f