I thought people would be interested in knowing about this. It's apparently a particularly hard winter up north (north? I'll bet you thought *I* was in the Great White North. Never mind ;-) We're experiencing a "winter flight" of Great Grey Owls. They've come south because they're having trouble finding their normal food (lemmings, mice) in the arctic. They're *huge*. 5 foot plus wingspans (Great Blue Heron size), and a body that appears to be the size of a 2 year-old child in a snowsuit. (by the book, 25"+ body) Neat thing is that they're daylight hunters. They may make it down into the northern states (VT, NH, NY, MI), so keep your eyes peeled. Look for *large* birds sitting in trees near open areas. Or on telephone poles. Patricia saw one last night on a pole and practically had heart failure. Just then the radio station issued a "teaser" about big owls being spotted in the area. The later story on them was about one of the reporters going into the woods with a MNR field person. They lured one down out of its tree with a mouse. The reporter was flabbergasted at the size (the tape recording had many excited noises ;-). She said it was like standing on a runway and staring down a landing 747. They aren't particularly shy. If you're quiet, you can get moderately close - but they get annoyed if you drown out the noises they're listening for (mice squeaking under the snow). We've been advised that you can stop and take pictures, but not to leave the road. Now's a really good time to keep your ferrets indoors ;-) (Not that they'd like the 2'+ of snow, and -25C temperatures) Gregory (2 1/2) and I are going off to see if we can see one on our way into "work". With camera and long lense. [Posted in FML issue 0223]