Snowy Owl Creating Quite a Buzz in DFW

The Snowy Owl has made headlines over the last few days in the DFW area. Non-birders who saw the news coverage over the weekend went to see the Harry Potter-like owl.

The sighting is only the 6th record in Texas, thanks to a Dallas police officer who first spotted the rare tundra visitor. Thankfully, the officer is a bird watcher who recognized the bird right away and made an effort to get the word out to birders. (you can read the story here). If it wasn't for him, it could have been missed entirely. According to some birders, a security guard of Robertson Park had seen the owl for several weeks, but didn't recognize its importance.

Non-birders seeing the news coverage of the owl claim they saw an owl like this before in the last few years, but were unable to find the right source to report it. Who knows how many Snowy Owls have been in the area over the last 50 years, but never got reported. There's probably owls out there right now going unnoticed.

So far the owl hasn't been seen in the last two days. When it was first reported last week, it disappeared several days before being seen again last Thursday. It will be interesting to see if it shows up again.
I'd love to think of a way to make it easier for people who don't know much about birds to share their sightings so birders and non-birders alike can enjoy the experience of seeing something rare and beautiful like a Snowy Owl.