A correction to Bill Whan's post: my understanding is the latest research shows that irruptions of Snowy Owls are actually because of a bountiful Arctic food supply during the preceding breeding season and the irruption is the large number of immatures dispersing. See Scott Weidensaul among others. Peggy Wang Sent from my iPad > On Dec 5, 2017, at 9:56 AM, Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > It seems this season is a poor one for raptors in the north, and those > of us who live in warmer climes are seeing more of them now. "Birders" > with cameras find them irresistible as photo subjects. > But there must be a zillion photos out there of owls staring at the > photographer, usually in the wide-open settings where they most often > look for lunch. All these photos look pretty much alike alike; once in a > while a photo might be taken of an owl with bloodied talons or even dead > prey, but they tend to retreat to eat. Photos of such subjects are > sought after, even if they are pretty much of identical birds in > identical settings. > I can imagine that owls, if they could and cared to observe humans, > would notice field characteristics--colorful 'plumages,' typical > postures and approaches, but potentials that might be dangerous. > Unlikelier than a tasty warm or vole, humans clumsily tend to hold to > their faces glassy instruments. Humans have an anxious tendency to edge > closer and closer to owls, all too often until they become unwelcome. > By searching the internet it is easy for us humans to find innumerable > snowy owl photos. But that seems not enough. We want to see our 'own' > owls, in our 'own' place, even though it is almost always > indistinguishable. Each birder must share his or her 'own' identical > image, tedious as it must be, of a snowy perched on a beach, looking > suspiciously toward the camera. > This is a lot more boring than stamp-collecting, but we seem > drawn to share out OWN versions of the standard photo. This is just a > bit strange, and always tedious for folks who view the results; it is > something the owls too put up with, even if carefully undertaken. > --Bill Whan > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]