It was a bird that changed a city.
Tne morning in 2022 when unsuspecting citizens of Cypress noticed a majestic Snowy Owl from the Arctic sitting on a rooftop, it started with a trickle, then a flood and soon escalated to a sensation.
Was it a harbinger of things to come or simply a lost bird trying to get back home?
According to local resident Robert Rausch, it was a life changing moment.
“My life changed for the better in an instant when a Snowy Owl decided to spend 6 weeks in my neighborhood 2 years ago and this was the first time a Snowy Owl had been seen in Southern California in over 100 years,” claims Rausch.
Rausch not only helped coordinate sightings during the bird’s visit to Cypress, he teamed up with Walter Josten of Blue Rider Pictures to produce a short documentary film chronicling the snowy owl’s visit to Cypress.
Fresh off its festival run, SoCal SNOWY OWL has already garnered critical acclaim, including the Best Short Documentary Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival. It will also screen at the prestigious International Wildlife Documentary Film Festival in Ankara, Turkey, on May 17-18, 2025.
This week, Rausch and his team announced in a press release that PBS SoCal, Southern California’s flagship PBS station, would be playing the documentary during April to celebrate Earth Month.
“Southern California’s flagship PBS station, confirmed the broadcast of SoCal SNOWY OWL, an extraordinary documentary chronicling the rare appearance of an Arctic snowy owl, who became affectionately known as Snowy, in a California neighborhood—the first sighting of its kind in a century.
The film explores how this unexpected visitor united a community, inspired conservation awareness, and provided a moment of hope in a complex and changing world,” according to the press release.
In addition, the documentary features exclusive interviews with Cypress City Councilwoman Frances Marquez, California State Senator Josh Newman, and renowned wildlife experts.
As part of PBS SoCal’s Earth Month 2025 programming, SoCal SNOWY OWL will air alongside a slate of powerful environmental documentaries, including Patagonia: Life On The Edge Of The World, narrated by Pedro Pascal; The Future Of Nature, narrated by Uma Thurman; and Wildlife On The Edge, narrated by Beau Bridges.
For local viewers wanting to catch the documentary, here are the SoCal broadcast dates:
PBS SoCal Plus (formerly KCET)
4/1 at 7:30pm
4/6 at 7:30pm
4/6 at 11:30pm
4/22 at 6:30pm
PBS SoCal
4/28 at 4pm
4/29 at 3:30am
PBS SoCal Encore (formerly PBS SoCal 2)
4/26 at 3pm & 4:30pm
The program will also be AVAILABLE TO STREAM starting April 1st at pbssocal.org or the free PBS APP.
PBS SoCal Plus (formerly KCET)
4/1 at 7:30pm
4 in Southern California in over 100 years.
Other ways to connect:
Rausch says the group now has a newsletter subscribe button at the bottom of each page of our website here – www.SoCalSnowyOwl.com , a new Instagram profile – www.instagram.com/socalsnowyowl , a YouTube channel – www.youtube.com/@SoCalSnowyOwl and a Facebook group that I started while Snowy was in my neighborhood – www.facebook.com/groups/socalsnowyowl .