2 Feb 2012 - Of snowy owls and rough-legged hawks

This is an amazing year for winter visitors. The snowy owls and rough-legged hawks are down from Canada in force this year. We are only 15 miles south of Quebec and Ontario so we get them annually anyway, but this year the numbers are quite high. They come down if their prey species (lemmings) population is low or if the prey is unaccessable due to high levels of snow. Also we have had a large number of bald eagles wintering in the area. We even had some idiot shoot and kill an adult female somewhere close to us. The first kestrel of the new year was sighted last sunday and the red tailed hawks are all paired up so spring is rapidly arriving!
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