A closer view

We decided to check out the field in Pa for the snowy owl again just in case it hadn't left. It was still there! There must be some really good voles and mice there - or possibly it is a juvenile female? I read that in a lot of species the males head north first and grab the best territories. I don't know if the snows that come south follow the same pattern. I shall have to try to find out and ask at the course we are taking in March at the Cornell Ornithology lab. 
The fact that it was still there was a pleasant surprise given the strings of geese going north for the last 2 weeks and the robins we had in the yard yesterday as well as the field full of robins  we saw in PA today. Even though it was 30 and snowing on and off today (yesterday was 60 and rainy) apparently it is officially early spring.