Gas Pains
Tom grew up in Milwaukee, bartended in Wauwatosa in the '70s and moved here in 1984.
Commentary, observations and musings about the outdoors, life in general and maybe Tosa politics and personalities will be the order of the day. He savors a lively debate as much as terrific cooking.
Winter Ghost
The Snowy Owl is one rare bird.
In my entire life I have only seen this bird twice. Once as a kid and again a few years ago.
Breeding range for the Snowy Owl is the real frozen tundra - much closer to the North Pole than around here. Namely Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia.
Unscheduled events known as winter irruptions will periodically result in sightings outside of the owl's typical range.
These events draw Snowy Owls from the circumpolar regions to southern Canada. From time-to-time these birds may even venture as far south as the northern and midwest United States, the great plains and beyond.
Weather and factors such as fluctuating food sources like lemmings (the Snowy Owl's main prey) are the cause.
SinissippiGal mentioned that she had gotten word through the grapevine that there was a Snowy Owl or two hanging around Fox Lake. So she grabbed her camera and went to check it out.
She emailed me some amazing photographs - and with her permission they're published here.
I think she struck some wildlife gold with these photos. Such a stunningly beautiful bird.
Follow this sequence of events.
Raptor
Prey
Launch
Pursuit
Dinner is served
I think these shots of life and death in the wild are among some of the best I've seen. Kind of like our own local version of National Geographic.
Don't you agree this contributor is deserving of an award or something?
Incredible!
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Awesome photos. Simply awesome.
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Gorgeous and yes.
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Nice pix, especially the first one of the bird on his perch. I used to see a Snowy Owl in a heavily vegetated ravine when I lived in a rural area in another state. This would have been along the southern edge of its range. It was on a route that I walked every morning before work. The ravine, itself, was quite lovely. It had probably been cultivated at one time so there were garden flowers that had naturalized in the sunnier spots. I probably saw the owl 2 or 3 times. Perhaps it was just a seasonal visitor, though it was there for an extended period. It was a breathtaking, unforgettable sight.
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Many years ago I worked on the ramp at the airport. One afternoon I walked outside to prepare for an arrival and noticed a bird running around on the ground acting rather odd, suddenly out of nowhere WHAM! a hawk flew down, grabbed the bird and flew up and landed on top of a jetway. For the next few minutes the hawk ate and bloody feathers were blowing around everywhere. Nature in action. I will never forget it.
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VERY impressive.
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Back to topPadraig - Mar 09, 2010 10:00 AM - Report Abuse
Tine - Mar 09, 2010 8:43 AM - Report Abuse
I've been noticing lots of blood on the trails on the County Grounds this winter and couldn't quite figure it out. Then last week I saw a kestrel seize a vole and fly with it to the phone lines above me. She started to eat her lunch (live vole sushi), and drip, drip, drip; now I know.
tosaoutsider - Mar 08, 2010 4:44 PM - Report Abuse
bobby4alderman - Mar 08, 2010 2:02 PM - Report Abuse
beckkl - Mar 08, 2010 9:51 AM - Report Abuse