Two Snowy Owls Pay A Rare Visit To Island Beach State Park

ISLAND BEACH STATE PARK - Island Beach recently had two unusual visitors to the park.

Members of Project Snowstorm were able to band two Snowy Owls with transmitters recently after they received reports of as many as five of the birds at the park, said group member Scott Weidensaul.

The all-volunteer group quickly named the birds "Island Beach" and "Lenape" and will be tracking their travels with the transmitters, he said.

Most snowy owls are young birds migrating south from Northern Quebec. Unfortunately, many don't make it to their first birthdays because it's difficult for raptors to learn how to hunt, Weidensaul said.

But Island Beach and Lenape seem to have mastered the art of hunting.

Last week, Project Snowstorm members Michael Lanzone from Cellular Tracking Technolgies - the manufacturer who makes the transmitters used on the owls - and David LaPuma from the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory, managed to track both young male birds at the park on a single day and fit them with transmitters.

It was the first time the four-year-old group had been able to tag an owl in the Garden State. They headed out to Island Beach after receiving reports of as many as five owls in the park a week ago.

After about an hour and a half of searching, the two came across a large white juvenile male owl perched on a fence post on a beach access road. He was captured, tagged, named "Island Beach" and released.

But spotting and tagging "Lenape" was not as easy.

“This bird proved much more difficult to trap, showing no interest in our lure and preferring to roost right there on the beach instead,” LaPuma said.

After a runner scared the bird off, the two men decided to come back later in the day. They were able to spot the second bird and attach a transmitter to him before he flew off into the sunset.

"We’ve programmed these two units to take data every 30 minutes most of the week, but on weekends they will work in “flight mode” — whenever the owl flies, they will collect data every six seconds, giving us an incredibly detailed record of their every twist and turn," according to the group's website.

Photos: Courtesy of Project Snowstorm

Video: Youtube- Island Beach's release