The Altikeeragh Snowy Owl

The Snowy Owl has been showing well for the last few days (for directions see the previous post). The last record was 7 years ago at Longfield Point. Prior to that most longstanding NI birders caught up with a number of different birds at Arranmore in Co. Donegal - including the famous 1993 bird, and a bird on Tory Island in 2010. Snowy Owl is an extremely rare bird in NI and this is the 13th confirmed record but only the third in the last 50 years. This bird seems to be a first winter male. As is typical of the species, it is highly photogenic and has already had a considerable number of admirers:

Snowy Owl - Neal Warnock

Snowy Owl - Stpehen Maxwell

Snowy Owl - Philip West

Snowy Owl - Philip West

Snowy Owl - Garry Armstrong

Snowy Owl - Mark Killops

Snowy Owl - Mark Killops