Ghost of the Northland

Their ghostly white appearance makes the snowy owl unique among all the owls of the Northland. As winter sets in the snowy owl will migrate down from the arctic and start appearing on utility poles and in some open fields.

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A friend told me that a beautiful snowy owl had been hunting for several days in the North Shore Mining area in Silver Bay so I drove up there two consecutive nights to try and get some photos.

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I had never photographed a snowy owl. Each night like clockwork the snowy owl landed on the utility pole in front of the taconite plant. We think it is a female due to all the dark markings.

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She also has tiny “ear” tufts which you usually don’t see on snowy owls. Since she was right along side the road I was able to photograph her out of the car window with my point and shoot camera attached to the spotting scope.

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She was content to pose for me as long as I remained in the car. Two things made her flush. When I tried to set the tripod up outside the car she instantly flew to the next telephone pole. The second was when I looked out my back window and caught the glimpse of red and blue flashing lights. One of the Lake County Deputies saw something that he thought suspicious; a strange person with a huge lens taking pictures of the mining plant. Fortunately the deputy called in my license plate and waited for the information before walking up to my car. During those few minutes I was able to get my photos. As soon as he walked up to the car, the owl flushed. My best photo was captured when the owl was eyeing the approaching deputy.

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During the day the snowy owl spends time on the open fields in front of Cliff's North Shore Mining plant. Here she is sitting on one of the water lines that cross the bay.

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