Blogs by Patricia Hilliard
Snowy Owl Olympics in New Jersey, USA
2/15/2014 12:38:56 PM
How exciting a rare bird can be for people.
Some biologists would explain that the sudden shift of Snowy Owls out of Canada and into the U.S. is the result of an over-population of lemmings which aided adult Snowy Owls to raise all two or three of the chicks born in the spring of 2013. When winter came in November 2013, many of the Snowy Owl chicks needed to disburse out of the Tundra which could not provide enough food during the winter months. These owls leaped into the Arctic Vortex and made the trip all the way to the Bahama Islands. Many came down in New Jersey. This has delighted the bird watchers here.
We spent many hours gazing at Snowy Owls and getting to know each other. The gatherings, occurring during the Super Bowl, reminded us of tail-gate parties. Later, as we watched for the owls over the rolling hills of golf courses, we felt like we were in Sochi, site of the Olympics and a place that was having warmer weather than we were having. The Snowy Owl Olympics were as exciting--with Raven's competing for perching territories and Northern Harrier Hawks chasing the same ducks and rabbits that the Snowy Owls needed to win the game of survival. It's been an exciting winter!
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• After 200 years, Bald Eagles appear. - Thursday, April 6, 2023
• Bird Seedy - Wednesday, March 9, 2022
• Dehumanized Humans and Wildlife - Sunday, June 20, 2021
• Discrimination in the World of Bird Watching - Friday, June 11, 2021
• Big Day Bird Count 2021 - Monday, May 10, 2021
• Plant a Pollinator Garden - Sunday, February 28, 2021
• Bird Watching during the Covid-19 Pandemic. - Friday, February 5, 2021
• Clapping for Clapper Rails - Saturday, July 11, 2020
• Beginners and Enders - Monday, November 18, 2019
• Change is the only Constant - Saturday, July 6, 2019
• Sports and Global Warming - Thursday, May 9, 2019
• A Realistic Rodent - Thursday, March 28, 2019
• Bald Eagles Again - Monday, February 18, 2019
• Birds and Words - Thursday, December 20, 2018
• Big Day Bird Walks - Saturday, October 6, 2018
• Nature Therapy--It Works! - Sunday, May 27, 2018
• 2017 A Better Year than Expected - Monday, December 11, 2017
• What the Warbler Migration has Taught Me - Monday, November 27, 2017
• Irony: How a loss of habitat occurs and why. - Tuesday, July 11, 2017
• Bald Eagles Return - Monday, May 8, 2017
• King Rail in Bayonne NJ - Thursday, August 21, 2014
• Snowy Owl Olympics in New Jersey, USA - Saturday, February 15, 2014
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