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Posted on 01/29/2012 7:32:56 AM PST by chopperman
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Bird enthusiasts are reporting rising numbers of snowy owls from the Arctic winging into the lower 48 states this winter in a mass southern migration that a leading owl researcher called "unbelievable."
Thousands of the snow-white birds, which stand 2 feet tall with 5-foot wingspans, have been spotted from coast to coast, feeding in farmlands in Idaho, roosting on rooftops in Montana, gliding over golf courses in Missouri and soaring over shorelines in Massachusetts.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
So much for that belief apparently. And the simple farts just can't bring themselves to forego the ritualistic reference to "climate change." It's like a mantra, they say it even when it manifestly makes no sense whatsoever.
I hope a whole bunch of em nest right here in Minnesota. They sure are good eatin’.
I don’t know about conditions in the Arctic as a whole, but I do know that Alaska is having one heck of a winter.
Maybe it’s just too much cold and snow for them, odd as that sounds. They’re leaving to find food.
No doubt this will be sagely noted as an effect of global warming too. When you have a bogeyman and find him useful, he’s responsible for every “bad” thing, even when it’s not.
The Artic is extending southward. These are great birds to observe. There is nothing like the thrill of being buzzed by one of these birds in the AK winter. Not a sound and they come in from behind you..within feet of your head. It is their territory and they defend it.
Providing cover for Hedwig?
There’s a lot of speculation. As far as hard evidence, we really don’t know,” Holt said.
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The last sentence of the article just about sums up scientists’ knowledge on most things environmental.
This is what the data is telling us.
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Truly awesome birds! I once saw one while snow-mobiling outside Rochester, NY. Had stopped to take in the scenery and a large shadow passed overhead - took a few seconds to make it out against the nearby snow-covered rise, but it made my day.
One was spotted 15 miles from where I live in Central Ohio....that is WAY out of their range.
They eat spotted owls......the horror......the horror.
The article says the migration is mostly young males, resulting from a population boom due to abundant lemmings which allowed as many as 7 offspring v. the usual 2.
Not global warming apparently.
That was my first thought. It's just too damned cold up there this year. Odd the reporter didn't seem to know anything about that.
Tenana, in cental AK, yesterday had a high of 48 degrees and a low of 60 degrees..............below.
Now I don't care who you are, that's cold.
Keep using the term, “global warming.” They want to change it to “climate change.” Don’t let them.
This is logical. Last year, the jet stream dropped very South across North America, so cold air flooded down from the Arctic, bringing lots of snow South, but leaving the northern climes temperate.
Warm weather up there==population explosion of lemmings, followed by snowy owls gorging themselves and reproducing.
But this year, the jet stream has been pushed way North, so that the cold is trapped North of Alaska and Canada, and they and the Arctic are being buried under deep snow and extremely cold temperatures, while it is temperate down South.
Cold weather up there==no food for lemmings, so a lot fewer lemmings, and thus no food for snowy owls.
So the snowy owls have nowhere to go but South, and there are a lot more of them than usual.
A big plus to this is that owls eat a LOT of mice and rats, which will be good for crops in the lower 48.
You are correct. Arctic bird irruptions into the Lower 48 during winter are always caused by a period of extreme cold on their feeding grounds. That is what is happening now. These birds have to move south in order to eat -- it's as simple as that.
Yet it is amazing to me that this fact is completely ignored in this absurd and biased article.
Honest journalism is dead. R.I.P.
Many, many years ago in Sault Ste Marie, MI a Flight Service specialist that worked with my father had one in a cage. It had been hit by a 'blue duck' (North Central Airlines CV-580) and wing was broke. A vet did what he could, but ventured it would never fly again.
Great looking bird, but after his ability to snap a pencil in half with his beak was demonstrated I resolved to give that cage a wider berth. I never heard of the bird's outcome.
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