This picture, captured by Spearfish photographer Joe Rainboth, shows a snowy owl sitting on a fencepost near the Black Hills. Joe saw two of snowy owls that day. Apparently more of the rare owls are migrating down from the Arctic this winter.

Judging by their photos, snowy owls are beautiful creatures.

A pure white, downy face, black-spotted wings and an impressive size — wingspans of as much as 5 feet. I’ve never had the good fortune to see one in the wild, but  a number of Black Hills people have done just that this winter. In fact, no fewer than three great photos have appeared on the Black Hills Facebook Page in recent weeks, including this one by Joe Rainboth.

I just ran across a Reuters story that somewhat explains the jump in recent snowy owl sightings. Apparently in the owl’s normal arctic breeding grounds, there’s been an ample supply of lemmings, the little rodents that are a staple of a snowy owl’s diet. Because of all the lemmings, the owls were able to eat well, enjoy life and hatch more babies than usual. Because of the good times, breeding pairs this year have been producing up to seven offspring. Most years, two hatchlings are the maximum.

So what’s a young owl to do when things get crowded? Head south. Which helps explain the surge in snowy owl sightings from Massachusetts to Idaho.The Reuters story reports that birders from down in Texas have been coming up to see the normallyh elusive birds.

I don’t know much about the migratory patterns of snowy owls, but I hope some of them start hanging around the Black Hills more often. … Then maybe I can see one for myself.