Seth Kellogg's Birds of the Air: Digital age nets younger birders

The snowy owl is as impressive in flight as it is perched. (Submitted)
Seth Kellogg By Seth Kellogg The Republican
on January 19, 2014 at 6:55 AM, updated January 19, 2014 at 7:12 AM
My first sight of the snowy owl was in Northampton on Feb. 16, 1972.

The secret is out; birds are really a lot of fun. Before the modern age of electronic connection, only a few knew the secret. Only a few birders searched, found, and recorded their encounters with the amazing variety of feathered beauty and behavior. Now many more have become enchanted, thanks to the magic of digital.

These newly enchanted are mostly younger than the traditional birder, and many are using cameras rather than binoculars as their primary mode of enjoyment. The real difference is that they can easily share their fun with so many others almost instantly. A solitary pastime has also become a communal hobby.

For most people birds are seen, but rarely with more than a passing interest. They know only pigeons, crows, gulls, and geese, birds that are large and plentiful, and also live close to humans. These birds are so frequently seen they become tame and commonplace, and the wilder, greater kingdom of birds remains hidden.

The circle of familiar birds becomes larger when people are taken by the beauty of a bird that wanders into their yard. Perhaps it only leads to attracting a handful of species by offering seeds for cardinals or nectar for hummingbirds. Then the cardinal might become a “spark” that leads to searching farther afield and entering the “hidden kingdom” of birds.

Consider the saga of the snowy owl, a species that is the essence of mystery and beauty, a species that makes being close to a truly wild bird such a coveted experience. This owl lives in Arctic regions on the grassy tundra, but every winter a few birds wander farther south to our milder latitude, usually to coastal marshes, dunes, and grasslands.

Traditional birders see and enjoy the snowy owl almost every year, usually at these coastal areas. I wrote in this column a few weeks ago about my recent view of this arctic wanderer in a marsh at Salisbury at dusk. It was the 21st time I had seen this owl since 1984.

My first sight of the snowy owl was in Northampton on Feb. 16, 1972. I can still envisage it in my mind’s eye, the large, white owl staring at me with yellow eyes from its safe perch on the ground in the middle of an expanse of cold, barren fields. They were still fertile enough to provide food for the owl another five days before it moved on.

This owl has been recorded in the four counties of western Massachusetts on about 200 occasions since 1935, but usually only once or twice in any winter, often not at all. This winter has been unique for the snowy owl, with reports of far more birds than in any winter ever all over New England, including our own region.

Since mid-December there have been a dozen reports of different snowy owls in towns from Great Barrington to Belchertown, including two in downtown Springfield. All but one have been present only for a day or two, but many have been seen by quite a few people, thanks to electronic connectivity. The word got around fast.

Finally, on Dec. 30, an owl found a fertile spot in which to linger, the cultivated meadows near Old Deerfield. Each day the bird was reported to be there the interest grew, so that subsequent days brought more and more viewers. Fortunately, the dirt lanes into the meadows are public and usually passable, though often snow or ice covered.

The owner of the farm fields was alarmed by the cars and crowds, but proud and pleased by the owl itself, and then even by the excited visitors. My visit to this mecca was delayed for two weeks, hoping that the crowds would thin out and allow a calmer experience.

At first the bird was not found in its usual favorite spot, so I made the rounds of the roads, as others were doing. I stopped and scanned without success for nearly an hour. Finally, I saw the owl take off from the ground and fly.

In flight the snowy owl was amazing, the huge, rounded wings carrying it through the air with ease and agility. It was the first time I had seen such a performance, and it is now yet another image etched in my memory.

Seth Kellogg can be contacted at

The Allen Bird Club website can be found at