North Carolina's first "chaseable" Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus, formerly Nyctea scandiaca) was found in the dunes four miles south of Fort Fisher on 11/24/2001. We relocated him on 11/27/01 about one mile further south, on Bald Head Island (AKA Smith Island), which is now connected to Fort Fisher. The bird was last seen on 12/3/01.

The bird spent some time preening and looking around, but was mostly resting. We got a nice view of its absurdly feathered feet when it waddled from one dune to another, but I couldn't get a shot.

This shows you how distant we were when I took these shots. You can't even see a white dot at 1x (the owl is under the bar). (That's Keith Camburn looking through my scope.)

At 4x you can barely see there is a white dot in the center. To the right is the "Old Baldy" lighthouse.