Viewfinder: Rare Owl Sightings at Sachuest Point Call In Bird-Watchers Near and Far

It's not unusual for star sightings on Aquidneck Island to entice visitors from near and far.

These days, the celebrities are the owls wintering at . Visitors have been traveling from all over New England in hopes of catching a glimpse or photograph.

Since late January, cars have been lining Sachuest Point Road and filling the lots at the wildlife sanctuary. Avid bird-watchers, some dressed in camouflage, wait patiently by the roadside and edges of the nature preserve armed with tripods and long lenses, while others point their iPhone cameras to the skies.

The crowds come around 3:30 p.m. in time for dusk each night, just as the owls begin their nocturnal hunt above the grassy fields on Sachuest Point.

Nature photographer Bob Weaver of Newport said that over the weekend between 20 to  40 people at any given time were lined up along the road's edge with their tripods set up.

"It was a pretty special couple of days with three red tailed hawks, four to five harriers, three short eared owls, one coopers hawk,  and a rough legged hawk, all flying around the area at the same time," Weaver said. 

Some of Bob Weaver's photography from recent sightings of owls and other birds at Sachuest Point are viewable in the photo gallery with this article.

Other contributors who photographed the owls recently include Michael Connole and Bernadette Banville.

For more information about Bob Weaver and his photography, email him at rjweaver@aiconnect.com.