Don Anderson, Larry Ricker and I, carpooling together, came across three snowy owls up Hwy. 7, the first on the railroad-owned a bit north and across from the greenhouse, the second one a gleam of white way out in the middle of one of the broad tamarack bogs off the west shoulder of 7, and the third at the corner of Zim Road and Greenfield Road, not far west of 7 and the railroad tracks.
The third owl we were able to watch for most of two hours as it hunted the corner field. It moved between the tip of a high spruce on the field border to the west, the same telephone pole along Zim Road, and choice spots on the field where we watched it catching and gulping entire voles with what appeared an enormous mouth behind its little bill hidden in feathers. None of us had ever seen an owl locate and snatch up prey from under the snow. At an interval of maybe 20 minutes this owl, thickly barred along the back with a smudge of blackish on the back of the head, would make another dive which we could only assume was directed by its sense of hearing. In and around the car we could hear mainly the wind when we weren't talking. If the owl could hear voles under the snow then it had to be filtering out a lot of wind swishing and our own voices, maybe, audible to it through the car with the driver's side window left open. We agreed that no one could quite fully appreciate the owl's perfected skill who hadn't gotten to see it firsthand--even for videos that show the same thing. -- *Tanya Beyer* Watercolor/mixed media flora, birds and wildscapes are available for viewing or purchase at http://www.etsy.com/shop/EpiphaniesAfield *Tanya Beyer - d.b.a. Epiphanies Afield, Natural History Art from the North American heartland* See and order note cards, frameable prints and original art at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/EpiphaniesAfield Artworks can be viewed at mnartists.org - search by name: Tanya Beyer Want a signature like mine? <http://s.wisestamp.com/links?url=http%3A%2F%2Fr1.wisestamp.com%2Fr%2Flanding%3Fpromo%3D21%26dest%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.wisestamp.com%252Femail-install%253Futm_source%253Dextension%2526utm_medium%253Demail%2526utm_campaign%253Dpromo_21> CLICK HERE.<http://s.wisestamp.com/links?url=http%3A%2F%2Fr1.wisestamp.com%2Fr%2Flanding%3Fpromo%3D21%26dest%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.wisestamp.com%252Femail-install%253Futm_source%253Dextension%2526utm_medium%253Demail%2526utm_campaign%253Dpromo_21> ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
