Story and photo by Susan Hintz
School had just let out for the day, and like most grade-school kids, I was anxious to get home. First, I had to make it past security! Back in the day, security was the outstretched arms of the safety patrol “officer” that helped us cross the street. When his arms went down, he was signaling to the kids gathered at the street corner that it was clear to cross. Once his arms dropped and he stepped aside, the neighborhood kids and I proceeded across.
Reaching the other side, I noticed several classmates congregating at the base of a utility pole and gazing upward. To my surprise, there sat the most beautiful bird I had ever seen. It was a pure-white owl, perched on the arm of the pole, peering down at us with piercing, golden eyes. The snowy owl’s look was so intent, it was as though he could see through us. I was in awe of this bird, and I could have gazed at it forever … until another classmate, presumably older, warned us not to get too close as the bird could swoop down and get us. Yikes!
That changed everything for this scrawny seven-year-old, who was about as tall as the owl. Thoughts of being attacked or nibbled was something I, and apparently some others, didn’t want to experience. Several of us dashed across the street, parallel to where the owl was, and briskly began walking home while keeping watch over our shoulders.
I recall looking for the bird the next day and the days following, but … nothing.
Remnants of that day still come to mind when I travel that street, along with thoughts of my fifth-grade teacher who lived on the corner. But any thought of, or interest in, seeing a snowy, or even knowing where to find one, was the furthest thing from my mind, until 2019. That’s when Facebook lit up like a Christmas tree with reported sightings and photos of snowy owls from all over Michigan, including my hometown of Traverse City. The photos were stunning, and they instantly took me back to the corner of Seventh and Wadsworth and my first sighting, decades earlier.
I knew I just had to see one.
Mission activated!
I became a “member” of several Facebook photography pages, as well as a snowy owl page where people could document the day, time and location of a sighting. Alas, there were few local sightings. Although the locations were outside my normal travel, they were not too far out of the way to swing by and scope things out.
It was a cold, blustery, gray day when I first decided to stop by a reported location on my way home. Not really knowing where to look, I drove slowly, scanning for anything that looked out of place. Something I learned as a deer hunter: You look for horizontal in a forest of vertical. Here, I was looking for something vertical in a field of horizontal. Soon, I spotted a snowy perched on a fence post. SCORE! I watched her for a few minutes before she flew off, swooped down to hunt, then landed in a nearby spruce. The white against the evergreen was absolutely breathtaking. Its beauty and grace had me hooked.
Snowy owls have returned to the area again this winter, and I find myself taking the long way to town or home in hopes of catching a glimpse. I have had the pleasure of observing and photographing them on several occasions and have concluded that each new sighting is just as thrilling as the first.
Despite decades bethttps://freshwater-reporter.com/spotting-snowy-owls-the-original-snowbirds/ween sightings, “who” would have expected that my level of excitement and awe would be the same today as it was as a grade schooler?
Snow(y) days are the best!
To learn more about snowy owls, visit: www.owlresearchinstitute.org/snowy-owl and www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Owl/overview
A homegrown Traverse City gal, Susan Hintz is a creative entrepreneur and an avid beachcomber and photographer.
