I was halfway to the office in Chadds Ford yesterday morning when I received a call that prompted me to backtrack toward home. 

The call was from our natural resource manager telling me he was staring down a Snowy Owl...in Devon!!! It seems this arctic visitor was first spotted yesterday morning on the campus of Episcopal Academy along Route 252 in Devon. Shortly thereafter, the owl flew about a half-mile north and perched atop the roof of a home just a stone's throw off of the very busy and very traffic-y Route 252. Fortunately, I got there in time to see this awesome sight.

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Getting to see a Snowy here in Chester County is a treat. Snowy owls spend their summers north of the Arctic Circle, where they breed and hunt.  Sometimes they spend the whole year in the Arctic but in other years, they migrate southward for the winter, often into the northeast U.S. On "irruptive" years, they migrate much farther southward, sometimes throughout the entire U.S.  Their bright white plumage makes them easy to spot unless, of course, there is snow on the ground!  Snowy owls are diurnal, meaning active during the day, though they spend a great deal of time sitting.

Look closely at the bird's talons and you can see that it is having no trouble finding a meal...

We hope the snowy owl sticks around for a while and that you get a chance to see it. With any luck, it will take up temporary residence at our Waterloo Mills Preserve, right down the road from where this photo was taken!