Charlestown, R.I. — At the Charlestown Breachway Thursday, a stone jetty overlooking the Atlantic surf served as the perfect pedestal for a majestic Arctic visitor, a place to perch in peace and still be visible to admirers.

"It's just an amazing thing to see in person like this, not in a cage," said Kate Folan of Charlestown, who's been coming to the state beach a few times a week for the last month to photograph snowy owls. "I've been here some days for six hours, getting completely frozen and numb."

Like three others at the breachway, Folan had her tripod and long-lens camera set up at the end of the parking lot, pointed toward the jetty. The owl holding court that day sported heavy black speckles, the signature markings of a female or juvenile snowy owl, according to Milan Bull, senior director of science and conservation at the Connecticut Audubon Society. Just a turn of the owl's large round head or small stretch of its folded wing was enough to charm the small audience Thursday, prompting the hobbyist photographers to utter "oohs" and "aahs" as they snapped away.

A male snowy owl, with only scant black markings peppering its pure white feathers, has also been seen at the breachway this winter, sometimes perched on rooftops or deck railings of nearby cottages, Folan and others said.

"I'm here almost every day," said Robert "Jay" Graham of Westerly. He's also seen them at nearby Moonstone Beach, while others have spotted them at Misquamicut and Napatree Point in Westerly.

Graham said he began his owl-gazing last winter, when about 30 snowy owls made Connecticut and Rhode Island their winter getaway.

"Last winter I watched one catch and eat a robin whole," said Graham.

Bull said the snowy owls visiting the region this winter are part of an "echo population" that is much smaller than last year's, when hundreds of snowy owls wintered all along the East Coast and Great Lakes region. There have been two to four snowy owls in Connecticut since late November, roosting at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Audubon's Coastal Center at Milford Point and the Great Meadows Marsh in Stratford, among other locations. Open meadows and shore areas are their favorite habitats, most closely resembling their tundra homes.

Snowy owls migrate every eight or 10 years or so away from their Arctic homes in winter in search of food, Bull said. There, lemmings are their main source of food. When lemming populations surge, snowy owls tend to lay multiple eggs and more young survive.

"Those young are migrating south looking for food," he said.

Owls that end up in New England are feeding on rodents, small birds and "anything they can pursue and catch," he said. "They'll hunt waterfowl at night, mostly ducks."

Snowy owls are one of the largest owl species, with a 4- to 5-foot wingspan and distinctive yellow eyes. In the tundra of Alaska, Canada and Eurasia where they live, their populations are stable, Bull said.

But that doesn't mean people should be careless when they see them. Bull said humans should stay 100 yards away, close enough to see them through a spotting scope or long-lens camera, but not disturb them.

Some owl stalkers have crossed dunes at Milford Point trying to get close to the owls, prompting Connecticut Audubon to erect signs reminding people to stay at a respectful distance. When humans encroach on an owl's territory, they cause the bird unnecessary stress, Bull said, and the owl feels forced to fly away.

"The more times they fly, the more energy they use," he said.

At Charlestown Breachway, owl enthusiast Michael Goche of Carolina, R.I., said there were some warm days just after the birds arrived in late November when 25 to 30 people gathered to see and photograph the owls, and a few traipsed over the dunes to get closer.

"The people scare them away, and then no one can see them," he said, shaking his head.

He peered back through his camera lens, then motioned to a visitor to have a look at the view screen. The owl turned its head and cast a sidelong gaze directly toward the camera, winking with a half-closed eye.

"That's why we're here," Goche said, "a beautiful animal."

j.benson@theday.com

Twitter: @BensonJudy