Arctic Visitors
The Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus, also known in North America as the Arctic Owl, Great White Owl or Harfang.
It had been a strange growing year here at TomatoTown, but evidently it was a strange year in other parts of the world. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, there are larger numbers of Snowy Owls visiting the Kansas City Area this winter. Farmer T and Farmer J, longtime bird nerds, decided to investigate. Five snowy Owls have been spotted around Smithville Lake. On New Year’s Day, we found this fellow near the dam. Mark Robbins, a Kansas University ornithologist, has been collecting data on the birds. According to Robbins, 15 snowy owls have been spotted in Kansas and 12 in Missouri. Robbins has compiled a cool photo gallery of images of the birds seen in the region.
A shortage of lemmings, the bird’s natural food source, has driven the Snowy Owls to our part of the world. The sad thing is most of these birds will die of starvation. Makes me wish I could bring this guy a snack. They are truly, amazing-looking birds.
A Snowy Owl spotted at Smithville Lake.
Leave a Reply