The first thought when I learned of the Snowy Owl influx this year was: "How
exciting I may get to see them." The second thought was "Is this number of
Snowy Owls part of the typical for the usual cycle, or is this, in part, due
to some human or corporate activity that is making it notably harder than
usual for the Snowys to make a living up north this winter even harder than
a typical bad prey availability year. I thought that they normally came
south when the lemming population crashed cyclicly (no, they don't run into
the sea), but for some reason I thought this influx may not have been on
schedule for the usual bust of the lemming boom and bust cycle (someone can
correct me if I'm wrong), or that the influx may be greater than usual for
the typical lemming population crash years. I know that oil drilling is
destroying and degrading habitat and that global warming is melting the
tundra that the Owls and their prey are adapted to, but I don't know how
much and if things are notably worse this year and if more owls have been
driven south in search for food than would have otherwise been this year.
Any answers out there. Oil corporation public relations people need not
reply.

Stewart Wechsler
Ecological Consulting
West Seattle
206 932-7225
ecostewart at quidnunc.net

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and how to enhance habitat for the maximum diversity
of plants and animals
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