The boreal owl is a small but fierce hunter that thrives in the dark forests of the northern hemisphere. It has a distinctive square face with yellow eyes and a white facial disc, giving it a "surprised" look. It feeds mainly on voles and other small rodents but sometimes catches birds and insects with its sharp talons. It nests in tree cavities or nest boxes, and the male attracts the female with a hollow hooting call in early spring. It is very secretive and complicated to find by day but sometimes reveals its presence by leaving pellets of bones and fur on the ground.
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This is a very welcome sign that Spring is on its way. Our first Snow Bunting sighting occurred this afternoon. Male Snow Buntings arrive in the high Arctic breeding grounds at the beginning of April, when temperatures can still dip as low as -22 degrees Fahrenheit. They claim and defend nesting sites in loose colonies of usually less than 100 birds.
Females arrive around the middle of May. Nests are built-in cracks in rocks, insulated against the cold with feathers and fur. Two to seven eggs are laid. To keep the eggs warm, the female rarely leaves the nest during incubation; the male does all the foraging to keep her fed.
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10.5 inches of snow so far and for the second day in a row I broke out my hiking trail to check the trail cams.
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