In the winter of 1890, a snowy owl was spotted in New York City’s Central Park, part of what a contemporary account called an “unusual abundance” along the East Coast of the large, strikingly beautiful predators that make their home in the Arctic tundra.

“Unusual” is right. A snowy owl, according to birding records, did not show its fluffy self in Central Park for another 130 years. Then came Wednesday morning.