Post Holiday Sale! Not sold in any stores, only via late night TV … Weather Vane Snowy!
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Get your own white owl to help you know the day’s weather. Sample installation seen yesterday at sunset in the Duluth / Superior area.
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In fact I saw three Snowy Owls in the 45 minutes before sunset last night while in Superior, Wisconsin. All three birds were actively hunting. Given the temperature at sunrise had been -13F, but by 4 pm had risen to 12F without much wind I was not surprised to see the owls out and busy looking for a meal. During extremely cold weather (like -13F), raptors are unlikely to hunt. Like most of us, the birds just want to stay warm. However, extreme cold means owls burn more calories to stay warm. Thus, when conditions improved a hunt was required.
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One surprise (or maybe not) was how quickly one of the Snowies discovered a huge field that had just been mowed by a works crew. This field had 3 foot long heavy grasses. The mowing knocked the grasses down to a few inches above the snow. In short, voles no longer had great hiding places. As noted the owls took advantage of that fact.
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All these images were taken within a few minutes of sundown.
