A large incursion of snowy owls is by now a matter of record, including Ohio. Looking back, I recall reports from the following counties, some of multiple owls (and I'm sure I've left some out): Ashtabula, Franklin, Hardin, Hancock, Union, Ottawa, Cuyahoga, Wood, Marion, Logan, and Defiance. No doubt there are others that I've forgotten or didn't hear about, and probably some none of us on this list heard about. Thus far there have been only two counties where owls were widely refound: Ashtabula (2) and Hardin. In some counties, such as Wood, multiple owl sightings were eagerly replicated within a day or two, but were not found thereafter. I think there were a couple of instances where birders found two owls in Wood Co on the same day---but how far apart? Twelve of from Columbus went out on 7 Jan hoping to show participants one of these striking creatures, and after a long day of finding nothing at five previously-reported venues, we finally found the Hardin County individual just before sundown. Whew. Little did we know that within a few days it would be found dead. I spent yesterday afternoon at the OSUM Museum helping with a visit from a young birder's club. One of the attractions was that very owl, which OSU-Lima faculty member Jackie Augustine brought in and spent three hours preparing as a study skin. She easily found that the bird had starved to death. It had a heavy infestation of parasites, which she collected and gave to the Entomology folks down the hall. What happened to all those other owls reported that were never reportedly seen again? One compelling theory is that they died, too, but their corpses were simply not found. The young owls that come down are neophytes. They find there aren't any lemmings around, and there's no tundra, with its untouched flora. By January, the barren Ohio winter crop fields probably have few rodents, and our grasslands--where short-eared owls are glad to winter--apparently don't attract snowies. The places here snowies often end up---airports, for example, and the industrial areas at Ashtabula Harbor--are dominated by grass, and attract rats and mice. So I'm thinking that most of these snowy owls are going to starve. If you hear about one--especially if it's reported by someone who's familiar with snowy owls--and want to see it, don't delay. So why did the Hardin owl last so long? If you compare its adopted habitat to the vast winter wastelands of Wood County where owls were reported, Hardin has at least a lot of woodlots, fencerows, and meadows, with some edge drama to attract food--not enough evidently, but enough to keep the owl flying for a couple weeks. Have a look at http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v044n04/p0221-p0226.pdf to see an account of a snowy owl "invasion" eighty years ago, when agriculture was not so "clean" as today... Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]