January 8 - Winter Ghosts
Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

Every few winters we receive visitors from the far north. Few and far between, snowy owls leave a lasting impression. Like winter ghosts, they glide over the snow on long, silent wings. White plumage echoes their Arctic origins. Keen eyesight and sharp hearing aid these owls in finding their rodent prey. Dwindling food supplies in their northern homes pushes these birds south. When a snowy owl visits for the winter, it is often conspicuous. Large in size and active day and night, these predators typically perch in a prominent location to look for food before flying after it.  A snowy owl might stay a couple of weeks to a couple of months before starting its journey back north. While they are here they generate enough interest to become reluctant celebrities of the birding community.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.