What's believed to be a rare snowy owl has turned up at a Dallas-area lake and the buzz about the bird has been drawing crowds.
NBC 5 first reported the sighting earlier this week after the owl was spotted in Robertson Park at Lake Ray Hubbard. Forums on birding websites have been busy with reports of sightings and observer snapshots of the creature.
Photographer Geryl Mortensen, who stopped by the park last weekend, says it's phenomenal to see a snowy owl in an urban setting.
Jim Peterson is a former curator of birds at what is now the Dallas Museum of Nature & Science. Peterson says materials are being put together to confirm what could be only the sixth snowy owl documented sighting in Texas.
With the birds being so incredibly rare in Texas, some have been left to wonder if the owl knows something about what remains of this winter that humans don't.
The first day of spring is March 20.
NBC 5's Frank Heinz contributed to this report.
