I have always been fascinated with owls and until I really got into birding, I didn’t realize just how many different species we had right around us here in north-central Minnesota. There are ten species in all. All are birds of the woodlands, that is, except the beautiful little Short-eared Owl.

Once in January, only a few years after I started birding, I heard that a pair of Short-eared Owls was being seen along the flats just outside of town. They aren’t often seen during the winter in this part of the country. I went out there about an hour before dark and there they were....I was totally caught up in watching them. The highway, where the owls were located, is a main route for grain trucks on their way to the terminals in Duluth and the trucks back then weren’t always sealed that great. There was always some spillage, which was good for the birds and even better for the mice. I watched those Short-eared Owls from a driveway as they patrolled the ditches, flitting up and down in their typical moth-like manner. They even flew right over my truck. In the less than an hour before sunset, I watched the two of them dive into the snow a total of eight times......and come up with eight mice. They didn’t miss even once. Who says that the world needs a better mousetrap? Both owls would sit on small mounds of dirt, gulp down the mouse, rest for a couple of minutes and then go back on patrol. This went on for five more evenings.

Read the rest of the Warren's column in our January issue...