They’ve been seen, often in numbers, in Maine, on Cape Cod, in New York City and even as far south as Florida.
Snowy owls, which typically live and breed in the tundra areas of northern Canada and Alaska (as well as in northern Europe and Asia), are known to migrate as far south as New England. According to one news report, instead of the six or eight that might be seen at Boston’s Logan Airport, an airport official said he has trapped 80 this winter. The birds are potential hazasrds to aircraft. The birds are captured and released.
The slideshow included here comes to The Working Waterfront courtesy of a reader who lives on a private island off Boothbay.
While some have speculated that the cold polar vortex condiitions seen this winter have driven the birds farther south than normal, bird experts suggest the owls instead may had an especially bountiful spring and summer feed, and have reproduced in greater numbers.