Snowy Owl Released at Sandy Neck Beach

Snowy Owl Release

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BARNSTABLE – A snowy owl found at Logan Airport in Boston recently, was released yesterday at Sandy Neck Beach in Barnstable.

It’s the second snowy owl to be released from Sandy Neck Beach and was the 15th caught at the airport this year.

Sandy Neck Beach Park Manager Nina Coleman said snowy owls are frequently seen at their location.

“We do have snowies here all the time, they come here in and out, heading down south or some of them stay,” said Coleman. “That shows us that we have the good habitat.”

Before the snowy owl was released, it was tagged with a solar powered transmitter that records the owl’s locations, which will be posted on the Project Snow Storm website.

Norman Smith, Director of Mass Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum has been studying snowy owls since 1981.

He brought along his two grandchildren Alexa and Carmella to watch the release of the snowy owl that he caught recently at the airport.

Two years ago Smith said his organization caught 120 snowy owls at Logan airport.

He said there’s a reason snowy owls are attracted to the airport.

“If you take away all the terminals and buildings and runways, it looks very much like the arctic tundra,” said Smith. “It’s wide open, expansive that has lots of food and stuff around there, and these birds can fly to elevations up to 8,000 feet.”

Logan Airport has the largest known concentration of snowy owls in the Northeast.

The birds usually show up at the airport in early November and leave in early April.

By JUSTIN SAUNDERS, CapeCod.com Newscenter

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