“SoCal Snowy Owl” and stories of community inspired by its visit to Orange County debut at Film Fest
Uncertainty gripped Roy Rausch during the winter of 2022. He stood on the precipice of retirement from a decades-long career in the brewing industry while also coming to terms with the recent death of his father. And he had no idea what life might have to offer moving forward.
The lifelong birder couldn’t have predicted that a snowy owl would show up in Cypress that December day, practically on his doorstep and thousands of miles away from the vulnerable species’ arctic habitat. It was the first known appearance of the bird of prey in Southern California in at least 100 years of record, something Rausch and crowds of nature lovers, curious residents, photographers and news crews had to see for themselves.
“I was over there within five minutes,” Rausch said. “And from that moment on, my life changed. I was over there every morning looking for the owl, being involved in the community that formed around the owl.”
A Facebook group Rausch started to help people share updates about the raptor racked up thousands of followers in a few short weeks. He became a recognizable name in the local birding scene and grew closer to his own neighbors as a result, creating friendships that last to this day.
One of those connections was with filmmaker Walter Josten. Rausch was hesitant when he was first approached by Josten to make a documentary, but changed his mind after the two met and bonded as fellow birders.
“SoCal Snowy Owl” premieres Friday at the Newport Beach Film Festival. It aims to capture the excitement that swept over Cypress, educate people about the bird of prey’s cultural and ecological significance while telling the stories of Rausch and others whose lives were touched by its visit.
Friday’s premiere starts at 7 p.m. at the newly reopened Lido Theater, and is followed by a panel discussion with wildlife experts from the Owl Research Institute, Sea Sage and Audobon, Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve and the Orange County Bird of Prey Center. A followup screening on Oct. 24 will include a Q&A session after credits roll with Josten and the documentary’s director, Christopher Angel.
Josten said the arctic predators have held a special place in his heart since he was a child. He recalled being 10 years old and out on a walk during a winter day about 60 years ago in Milwaukee when he spotted one perched on a rooftop near him. He stopped in his tracks, captivated by the snowy owl’s presence.
“It was about 4 feet away from where I was standing below her, sitting on a corner of a roof with those big yellow eyes,” Josten said. “When she took off there wasn’t a sound... She just turned her head and looked at me as she flew over me. And it’s an image that stayed with me my whole life.”
The snowy owl became his “spark bird,” inspiring a deep appreciation for nature and a lifelong birding hobby. They were a recurring subject of Josten’s paintings while he was an art student.
He never thought he’d get a chance to encounter a snowy owl out of captivity after moving to California and settling in Irvine. So when one inexplicably took up residence on a Cypress rooftop for about a month two winters ago, he and hundreds of other nature lovers had to see it.
“It took me about two minutes once I got to Cypress to see a crowd of people on the street,” Josten said. “And across the street, I swear there had to be 50 or more photographers with the longest lenses and the most sophisticated cameras I’ve seen in a long time. Y’know, it was like you were at the Academy Awards walking the gauntlet.”
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