John spots the first Snowy Owl for Winter 2014

At noon today, on the way into Newport, John spotted crows harassing something on the ground across from the Airport in Coventry.  He said...SNOWY! and I knew we had one. Across from the entrance to the airport where we go to lunch at Parker Pie Wings sometimes, the poor owl was very annoyed by the crows and flew to the peak of a nearby red, single story house. That was where we left it. This picture is the one we spotted a few years back on Dane Hill Road, not far from where we live. Today's bird was more gray than this one, perhaps an immature. I soon received comments from the posting on the VT Bird listserv to the effect that snowy owls that sit on chimneys become gray from the smoke! That is interesting to think about. The picture on my cell phone is useless
because I don't know how to download it to the computer at the moment. I think we all know what these birds look like by now. We will definitely go back and have another look with a better camera, long lens.