Photographer Captures Snowy Owl on Film in Hampton Bays

A rare, large Snowy Owl has made an appearance in Hampton Bays.

Over the weekend, photographer Bob Savage, captured the bird at perching at Tiana Beach. 

A few Snowy Owls, according to Joe Reynolds, a Long Island naturalist and Patch Blogger, have been spotted across the New York area in recent days as Mother Nature brings in colder temperatures.  

Every few winters, the owls, he said, fly from their Arctic breeding grounds located in the low tundra to the northern continental United States during what is called an irruption or a lemming irruption. 

"It's a natural event likely linked to lemmings, a small rodent that accounts for around 90 percent of a Snowy Owl's diet, he said. "When lemmings are in abundance, the population of Snowy Owls increases. When winter begins on the tundra, the lemmings are hard to find."