The New York Times calls the owl “a charismatic sentry in climate change” because owls can show when we are all in trouble.
“As [owl researcher Denver Holt] prepares for his 20th field season in the Arctic, he says that the snowy owl has a role to play in understanding ecological changes in one of the fastest changing places in the world. ‘When lemmings are doing well, everything is doing well — eider ducks, sandhill cranes, arctic fox and weasels,’ Mr. Holt said. ‘If climate change results in habitat changes and it affects the lemmings, it will show up in the snowy owls because 90 percent of their diet is lemmings. The owls are the key to everything else.’ ” Read more here.
This owl spent a day in the ivy at my house. It’s hard to see him, but I guess that is the idea. I was so sorry that he didn’t come back. Suzanne’s sister-in-law said he was a screech owl.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 