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Tuesday, January 7, 2020

News Hits

Here's a video of a snowy owl swimming in Lake St. Clair

Posted By Jerilyn Jordan on Tue, Jan 7, 2020 at 11:32 AM

click to enlarge

Shutterstock

Spiritual and psychological practices have often praised the power of taking a simple 10-second break when you're feeling stressed out, anxious, or confrontational. Simply close your eyes, breathe through your nose, out of your mouth, repeat for 10 seconds, and ta-da — a healthy dose of tranquility.

But if you call bullshit and you don't put much stock in stillness or, like, breathing, may we suggest watching 10 seconds of a stunning, totally majestic snowy owl swimming in Lake St. Clair? OK — so we may not have any scientific proof that this technique works for everyone, but it sure worked for our cynical, Twitter-addicted, doomsday prepping-selves.

In a video shared on the Macomb County Sheriff Marine Division's Facebook page on Monday morning (a video that should have most definitely been shot horizontally if we're being honest), a snowy owl, or as the Marine Division says, “a special guest,” can be seen swimming along the shore of Lake St. Clair like a goddamn scene out of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or whatever world Falkor the luck dragon hails from.

According to the post, the Marine Division believes the snowy owl is one that has been spotted in the area and instructed people who may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of these fluffy cuties to keep their distance so as to not disturb the birds.

“Please remember to respect these beautiful animals by being a good observer; keep your distance, respect this living creature and the private property it may be occupying, and do not feed owls.”

Additionally, snowy owls are protected under The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which makes it illegal to “take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs” without a federal permit.

Snowy owl sightings were a seemingly rare occurrence in the lower peninsula until 2017 when they began appearing in very public places, like atop unsuspecting people's cars, or, in one case, an owl chose to make itself comfortable on the rooftop of One Woodward Avenue. Last July, the Wyandotte Police Department reported a snowy owl sighting on a day when scorching summer temps hovered around 90 degrees. Hell, we put the nomadic bird on our cover in 2018 because it made us feel good.

“There's less snow here than there is in the tundra right now, so it's easier for them to find food,” program coordinator at Detroit Audubon Bailey Lininger told Metro Times in 2018. “And there's less competition because the more mature birds are up on the tundra.”

Lininger explained that the snowy owl invasion was the result of an irregular migration event known as an irruption, which is caused by a population boom in their arctic home, which in the case of our snowy owl bunch, is the arctic tundra of Northern Canada. Ultimately, they hang out here in the winter and eat, and will then head north to breed in the spring, which means one thing: snowy owl babies.

Apparently, owls don't like to swim — in other instances caught on video, experts determined that the birds were likely in distress. So let's hope our fluffy little friend is OK.

Watch the video below.

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Tags: Snowy Owls, Michigan, winter in Detroit, bird watchers Michigan, Image

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