Snowy Owls on a Saturday morning

George and I went to Plum Island this morning to see the snowy owls.  We saw one, barely.  The way to find the snowy owl is to look for the people with binoculars crossing the road from their cars, and then point your binoculars in the same direction they are.  This particular snowy owl was on the ground, in the snow, next to a thousand other clumps of snow.  He was well camouflaged.  In fact, I am surprised we even found him.  He was not far from the road.  As one woman said when she tried to explain to us where he was; you could hit him with a snowball.    If it looks like a snowball with a gray tinge, and two eyes, it is probably a snowy owl.   We watched him watching us.  Then we left.  He stayed.

Plum Island is located on the Parker River National Wildlife Preserve.  It is near Newburyport, MA. and about 40 miles from our house, or a nice Saturday morning drive.  We go there often.  The waterways are mostly frozen now, so we are eagerly awaiting the thaw, when the ducks will be back.  We have seen hawks, a bittern, all kinds of wonderful ducks including pintails, buffleheads, teals & mergansers; willets, yellowlegs and other shore birds....I could go on, but I'd need a birdbook to name them all.

It is a wonderful place.   Oh, yeah.  On the way home from work in Medford on Friday afternoon, we saw an American Bald Eagle fly by; black huge wings, white head, soaring near the river.  Incredible.