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We were fortunate to have three snowy owls along the North Shore this week. I saw one north of Silver Bay and a friend found this one along Hwy 61 near Cutface Creek. Another one was located in Grand Marias but it had to be rescued as it was in a starved condition.

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They are such a beautiful bird with their white feathers and yellow eyes. The ones with many black bars are usually females. They can turn their head completely backwards. If you look closely at the face you can see that their feathers are as fine as fur. A snowy owl has to survive conditions colder than minus sixty degrees in its home territory, which is the Arctic.

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Sometimes, if the lemming population is low they will fly south in the winter to find food. These early sightings may suggest that many snowy owls may be seen in Minnesota this year.

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