Snowy Owl Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: There may not be many advantages to living in South Dakota in winter, but the winter raptors are one of those advantages. Particularly when I travel to the central part of the state in and around the Fort Pierre National Grasslands, raptor numbers can be spectacular, as can be the variety of species. In amidst the Hawks, Falcons, and Eagles, however, you're always keeping your eyes open for that flash of white that might, just might, be a Snowy Owl. Even after all of these years it still gets your heart racing when you happen across one.

My most memorable aggregate encounter with Snowy Owls was in December of 2011. There were at LEAST 20 (!!!!) individual Snowy Owls hanging around the immediate area of Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge. I've never before seen such a density of Snowy Owls, and what was odd is that just driving a few miles away from Lake Andes and there aren't any to be found. But my fondest memory of a Snowy Owl encounter was with the owl below, from the "Spring Creek" area of Lake Oahe, in February of 2012. Memorable, because I've never been so close to a Snowy Owl, or had one act so "chill" around me. It was sitting on a sign post, and couldn't care less about my presence as I watched and photographed it for over an hour.

Note my assignment of sex in the photo descriptions is based on my best judgment. In general females are more heavily barred, as older males can be almost pure white. Younger birds of both sexes are more heavily barred. Regardless of sex or age, the extent of the white on the breast is a clue, as females show a smaller "V" with barring around it (as in photo below), and males have a more extensive white breast regardless of age. Number of bars on the tail is also diagnostic, as any owl with 4 or more bars is female.

Snowy Owl - Bubo scandiacus


Snowy Owl 1	Snowy Owl 2	Snowy Owl 3	Snowy Owl 4
November 18th, 2006	January 4th, 2009	November 18th, 2006	January 4th, 2009
Near Presho, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Near Presho, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota
Young female owl sitting on telephone line on a sunny late fall day	Owl in flight over grasslands of the Great Plains of South Dakota	Young female owl sitting on a telephone line on a sunny late fall day	Snowy Owl in flight over prairie in winter

Snowy Owl 5	Snowy Owl 6	Snowy Owl 7	Snowy Owl 8
January 4th, 2009	January 4th, 2009	January 4th, 2009	January 4th, 2009
Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota
Snowy Owl in flight over prairie covered in patchy snow	Male owl sitting on a patch of snow on the grasslands. A commonly seen behavior here.	Young male owl sitting on a patch of snow on the horizon in a grassland environment	Female/young male owl sitting on a fence post with direct stare into the camera

Snowy Owl 9	Snowy Owl 10	Snowy Owl 11	Snowy Owl 12
December 23rd, 2011	December 23rd, 2011	December 23rd, 2011	December 23rd, 2011
Near Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota	Near Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota	Near Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota	Near Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota
Snowy Owl sunning herself on the ground in a plowed corn field	Snowy Owl sunning herself on the ground in a plowed corn field	Female/young male Snowy Owl on a telephone pole, staring into camera	Partially obscured bird perched on the ground in a short-grass prairie

Snowy Owl 13	Snowy Owl 14	Snowy Owl 15	Snowy Owl 16
December 30th, 2011	December 30th, 2011	December 30th, 2011	December 30th, 2011
Near Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota	Near Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota	Near Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota	Near Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota
Young female bird on top of a telephone pole on a sunny winter day	Young/female bird taking flight over a shortgrass prairie habitat	Young/female bird in flight on a cloudy/gloomy winter day	Heavily barred young female owl sitting on a wooden fence post

Snowy Owl 17	Snowy Owl 18	Snowy Owl 19	Snowy Owl 20
December 30th, 2011	December 30th, 2011	December 30th, 2011	December 30th, 2011
Near Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota	Near Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota	Near Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota	Near Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota
Young owl perched on a hay bale on a cold winter's morning	Young owl perched on a hay bale on a cold winter's morning	Male Snowy Owl perched on the ground in a grassland / prairie	Young, heavily marked female Snowy Owl taking flight over grassland

Snowy Owl 21	Snowy Owl 22	Snowy Owl 23	Snowy Owl 24
February 17th, 2012	February 17th, 2012	February 17th, 2012	January 1st, 2013
Near Spring Creek area of Lake Oahe, South Dakota	Near Spring Creek area of Lake Oahe, South Dakota	Near Spring Creek area of Lake Oahe, South Dakota	Near Kennebec, South Dakota
Close portrait of head and face of snowy owl	Sleepy owl sitting on a wooden post supporting a highway sign	Owl looking into camera, perched on wooden post supporting highway sign	Male Snowy Owl perched high on the crossbeam of a telephone pole

Snowy Owl 25	Snowy Owl 26	Snowy Owl 27	Snowy Owl 28
February 2nd, 2014	February 2nd, 2014	February 2nd, 2014	February 2nd, 2014
Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Yawning owl perched on the top of a light fixture in an urban setting	Closeup of a yawning female owl on a sunny winter day	Female owl perched on high grassy mound in a suburban setting	Female owl perched on high grassy mound in a suburban setting

Snowy Owl 29	Snowy Owl 30
February 2nd, 2014	February 2nd, 2014
Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Female Snowy Owl perched on the top of a light fixture	Female Snowy Owl perched on the top of a light fixture