A Snowy Owl spends the summer in southern Maine and New Hampshire

Initially this bird was discovered sometime in April in the Pennellville area of southern Maine and stayed there through May 19th, then the bird moved south along the coast to Drakes Island Beach staying there from about June 2nd-18th. Both of our Maine: Mountains & Coast tours were able to see this striking owl very well in early June! Later in the month, the owl made a short move north to the Rachel Carson NWR until a final eBird report on June 25th. In July it appears the same individual popped up along Route 16 in Carroll County, NH staying there from July 22nd-26th.

 

Despite a difficult (and hot!) summer it appears this bird is doing alright, and now is even making a decent reorientation to the northwest and hopefully heading back toward proper Snowy Owl latitudes. However, it seems the bird was captured by rehabbers in New Hampshire and taken into their care. I truly wish this owl the best, and hope it can be released and continue northward. The composite photo above compares the owl from Pennellville (1), Drakes Beach (2), and New Hampshire (3) and the map shows the path of this owl’s summer travels. I shamelessly grabbed those images off eBird/Macauley Library and I appreciate how many people uploaded photos of this beautiful Snowy Owl during its little adventure. Northern NH and Canadian birders: keep an eye out for this bird!