1/29/2005...more Great Grey Owls comments...

Remodeling was a bit tedious so I looked out the window and saw a Great Grey Owl at the top of a dead tree about 30 feet from the house.  He/she was watching a couple of spots on the ground, one to the east (lakeside) and the second to the west.  After checking them both out he turned on the perch and faced west.  I believe they can see snow movement or even see shading gradients as the mice move beneath the snow.  This was not the largest that we've seen in the last couple of weeks (we saw five today) but it was more than two feet tall and had about a three foot wingspan.  After a couple of minutes the owl dropped to the ground with wings outreached.  It dug around aggressively with it's feet for a couple of minutes and then flew off without a snack, landing about fifty feet away to wait for the next meal.  If my son had been around I would have sent him outside wearing his Mickey Mouse hat.

I apologize for the lack of focus but this was through a window covered in sawdust.