Snowy Owl in nature reserve near Hanstholm/ North Jutland

Snowy OwlRight now, it is possible to see a rare Owl at Hanstholm at the coast of northern Jytland, Denmark. A young female Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) can be observed in the south of  Hanstholm in the first National Park of Denmark, called Hanstedreservatet. After the first days, around the 21st of December 2013  – when the owl was discovered in the habor – it dispersed in the more natural environment of the dunes nearby. Some images you see in the gallery.  The last days it could be observed by parking the car at Km 41 on the road between Hanstholm to Klitmøller along the sandy coast.

Some people think, that is rare bird probably comes from the Sibirian tundra. The Snowy Owl is a nomad, and it is roaming around in the hunt for food, but in this case, it is more likely, that this bird was ship-assisted. No wonder with the many fishing vessels nearby.

After missing the (male) Snowy Owl in Zeebrugge on the 2 days before Christmas, I could see the Snowy Owl nowvery well on New Year’s Day 2014 and photographed it well. With me, many Birder visit the site over the days between Christmas and New Year. Watching the owl, we were lucky to see a flock of Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) passing the owl very close overhead. As you see in the image obviously a familiar sighting for the owl and the buntings as well.

If you are also interested in these Palearctic rarities, you should not hesitate to go there. During my visit, I saw already Norwegian, Hungarian, Dutch birders with the many Danish birders as well. It might be advisable to stay close by. For this purpose, the reasonably cheap and clean hotel Harbor Inn located vis-a -vis to the harbor ( Harbour Inn, Kai Lindberg Gade 71 , 7730 Hanstholm , Denmark, +45 97 96 11 45 ) is perfect.

Snowy Owls at least in the middle of Europe are anything but a familiar sight. And if you look at their breeding range in Europe e.g. Lapland or Spitsbergen you will see, that it is not easy to photograph a Snowy Owl on closer distance. In winter it happens to be straying into Scandinavia and Denmark, but there are years in between.

Another rare Arctic bird at Hanstholm Jutland in these days is a young Ivory Gull (Pagophila eburnea) which usually breeds in northeast Greenland , northernmost North America, Spitsbergen / Svalbard and northern Eurasia. This High Arctic gull prefers usually to stay in the high North even during harsh winter conditions. It forages on small fish and seal carrions, which it often locates by following the Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) during their feeding adventures.

In order to meet the growing demand for top images of the rarer species of Palaearctic Bird-lens.com has specifically made ​​trips to remote places like the coastal mountains of western Norway or in the winter to a secluded harbor in Denmark. This to do everything to ensure excellent photos of the Birds of the Western Palearctic . The yield of pictures also of rare Western Palaearctic birds is very good. The beautiful pictures that you see in the gallery is just a first impression of what you will find behind the tab “Picture- Shop” very soon are. Just give a notice if you need a picture of a bird before the new images are online.

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