From Huron Daily Tribune - Feb 13, 2025
Snowy owls frequently migrate from their arctic home to this area in search of food. It’s not unusual to see this white ball of feathers soaring through the skies over Huron County’s open fields during the winter months. Frequently they can be spotted along country roads sitting atop utility poles or in trees. They are predators on the lookout for small animals or birds to sustain them through the winter months, before heading north when the weather warms up.
This winter a certain snowy owl has garnered attention because of its unusual coloration. Normally white, this owl is noticeably brighter, sporting a rather jaunty reddish/orange appearance. It has been seen numerous times over the last few weeks, and made a splash on social media, causing photographers from as far away as Detroit, Port Huron, Flint, and Grand Rapids to travel to Huron County in hopes of spotting the snowy owl with the colorful anomaly.
Because of its coloration, the owl’s presence has been reported to wildlife authorities, who seem to be at a loss as to why it sports such brightly colored feathers. Reasonable guesses range from it being a natural mutation to some sort of human contact, whether accidental or intentional.
Among the human contact theories are that it was perched and drenched with fire retardant in proximity to a wildfire in Canada. Another theory is that it was perched and drenched with deicer at an airport runway. Other theories are that it was accidently sprayed with paint while near bridge construction or marked by an unknown but authorized scientific entity in order track it more easily.
No matter what the cause, this brightly colored snowy owl is a beautiful bird. Someday, the cause of its colorful anomaly may be known. In the meantime, people are encouraged to respect it, and let it exist peacefully, as it seems to be healthy and living the life of a ‘normal’ snowy owl.
That would have been a memorable experience ! Nature kicks ass ! I too am a fan of blue birds of all kinds. Im lucky enough to have dozens of bluebirds, quite a few indigo bunting and a whole mess of Bluejays flying around my home. A few other notable birds I get to see regularly are piliated woodpeckers ( the big woody woodpecker types) , yellow flickers and my personal favorite ( which really arent that special but theyre my #1 for their personality alone) the Carolina wren.
Wish I wouldn't have seen the blue shitbird though
Nice! Have you ever tried the Merlin app? That got me paying attention to birds more. I don't know much, but it's like even-better Pokemon Go. I try to whip out my phone whenever I hear anything new. Best one so far is a few Great Horned Owls (adults and babies!) behind my apartment complex. First captured their calls/ID'd them, then eventually saw the female at night while walking my dog--she swooped overhead maybe 20-30 ft up and landed on the corner of the building to scope us out. I suspect a bird feeder or ten might be in my balcony's future.
I have not , my sister has an app like that , possibly the same one , I'll have to ask her about it.
My father is pretty good with bird identification and would always point them out on walks in the woods.
I got hooked on field guides after getting a few as a kid for birthdays etc. I've collected several editions of Petersons and National Audubon field guides . I highly recommend both . NA has actual pictures but Peterson's have rendered images of the birds in flight, their seasonal plumage and are a bit more comprehensive .
I could definitely get into that. I'll have to keep an eye out at thrift stores--field guides would be a fun little category of books to collect.
Merlin is free and the coolest part is that it has audio ID and it's impressively good. You can have multiple birds singing and it'll identify each call individually, which you can then save to a life list along with the recordings. Among other cool features. It's from Cornell University. I still think it might be the coolest, most-magical app I've ever used. I still get excited when it identifies a bird call. "It did it!"