Friday, December 16, 2011

Snowy Owl in Wood County, Ohio

Late fall / early winter 2011 has been marked by a major influx of Snowy Owls into the north-central U.S., with scores of individuals reported around the western Great Lakes.  Only a few individuals have been found in Ohio so far, but one is being seen currently not far from our immediate area: in Wood County, just southwest of Bowling Green. 

As reported on the "RareBird" forum, the owl was first found on December 12 by Mark (last name not given) and has been seen several times since.  Most of the sightings have been in the general area of Cygnet Road (Township Hwy 3) and Otsego Pike (State Route 235).  Cygnet Road runs east - west, and crosses Interstate 75 about eight miles south of Bowling Green.

The owl has been seen perched atop telephone poles a few times, but more often it has been seen sitting on the ground out in open fields, often some distance from the road, so a telescope is useful for getting good looks.  If you go to look for this bird, please do not approach it closely.  Snowy Owls that come this far south are often stressed and hungry, and we must not do anything to add to their stress. 

As of about 10:30 a.m. on Friday, December 16, Ben Warner reported that the owl was being seen off Cygnet Road, southwest of its intersection with Otsego Pike.  It was about 500 yards out in a corn stubble field.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Kenn!
Just wanted to let you know that we shared this post with folks at sanduskyregister.com. Good luck owl spotting! You can see the post here: http://www.sanduskyregister.com/bowling-green/news/2011/dec/20/keep-eye-out-snowy-owls

-Sarah Weber
Editor, sanduskyregister.com
weber@sanduskyregister.com

Anonymous said...

To all,
I just saw one this am! It was amazing, but more incredibly he was sitting on the ground in my yard right where I met a friend of mine who was later killed in 2005, it was like a message from beyond. What an incredible experience!! We looked at each other for a few seconds then he flew off. It was about 630am. Summit County

Anonymous said...

Just saw one on my barn at 5:30 pm new years day one mi. South of Deshler rd.2 flew off to the east.

Anonymous said...

just saw one trying to kill a phesant just south of blissfield michigan on thurs jan 23

Aaron said...

I'm not sure if this is the same species. But I just saw an all white owlthat flew up from a ditch and Sat on the ground between the ditch in the field. I turned around and tried to take a picture of it but it flew out into the field about 100 yards.the entire bird was all white. Very beautiful and large.I saw it on route 582 just outside of Haskins Ohio

 
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