CYPRESS, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Snowbirds are a common sight in Southern California in wintertime 鈥� except when they're actually a bird. A snowy owl to be exact.
Crowds of bird-watchers have been showing up regularly in an Orange County neighborhood to gawk at a snowy owl, a species normally found around the Arctic, Canada and several northern U.S. states.
It's current home is a rooftop perch in the balmy city of Cypress.
鈥淚t is absolutely unique as a bird observation,鈥� Vic Leipzig, who teaches birding at Saddleback College, told this week.
The newspaper reported that local bird experts speculated that the owl could have arrived in Southern California aboard a ship or could be a captive bird that escaped.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a beautiful thing to see,鈥� Leipzig said. 鈥淭hat there were so many people standing there watching this thing was very thrilling to me."
The Associated Press
