This year, though, one visitor from the north in particular has been present in abnormally high numbers – the majestic Snowy Owl.

While it is common  for large numbers of juvenile Snowy Owls to wander south of the Canadian border in search of food, giving us a glimpse into the wonders of the Arctic, this year has been record-setting with the most sightings along the East Coast in decades. These beautiful white owls with their bright, piercing, lemon yellow eyes seem to be everywhere; from Napatree Point in Westerly to Beavertail State Park in Jamestown, from Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Middletown to downtown Providence.

Although Snowy Owls are undoubtedly the stars of the avifaunal show this winter, numerous other interesting birds who breed as far north as the Arctic tundra are worthy of notice. To these birds Rhode Island is their Boca Raton.

 A great diversity of sea ducks can be found in Rhode Island in the winter; Common Eiders and Scoters (Surf, Black, and White-winged) dive below the surface to pry shellfish off the rocks with their wedge-shaped bills;  ornate Harlequin Ducks forage in the turbulent surf perhaps to remind themselves of the fast flowing rivers of Labrador where they will breed; further out, in rolling waves, Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, and Horned Grebe hunt for fish.

Several species of shorebirds who breed in the Arctic also spend the winter in Rhode Island. The bird which travels the furthest, from hundreds of miles past the Arctic Circle, is the Purple Sandpiper; a stout shorebird with only the subtlest hints of purple in its plumage. Another sandpiper of similar size and shape distinguished by a more drab appearance and a slightly larger, more drooping bill is the Dunlin. Both of these birds are commonly observed probing for invertebrates among the exposed seaweed at low tide on Rhode Island’s rocky shores, jetties, and breachways. Sanderlings, the most familiar of our winter shorebirds, are also found along rocky shores as well as on sandy beaches, scurrying in the advancing and retreating surf.

Rhode Island also provides the winter home for several species of songbirds that will be singing and breeding in the tundra and boreal forests of Canada in the spring. Open snow covered fields are the winter retreat of Tree Sparrows and flocks of Snow Buntings, while the dense foliage of conifer trees harbor Red and White-winged Crossbills and Common Redpolls.

So the next time you are out enjoying the single digit fresh air of the most recent Polar Vortex in pursuit of the charismatic Snowy Owl, remember to keep a safe distance to avoid stressing the birds, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for some of Rhode Island’s other winter visitors.

It’s Thursday, December 12 … Day 11, we hope, of the Exile on Wamponaug Trail. Notoriously nasty WPRO misogynist John DePetro has been off the air for all of December so far for calling female labor activists whores on the radio. As I wrote yesterday, Rhode Island couldn’t have asked for a nicer Christmas present from our brothers and sisters in the organized labor movement … so if you’re glad December has been DePetro-free, thank a union member.

The non-profit that owns Rhode Island Hospital and other Rhode Island hospitals is not profitable, reports WPRI. A Tim White/Ted Nesi investigation uncovers that the only thing that kept Lifespan in the black this year was because it purchased a mental health firm with money in the bank. Lifespan, you will remember is the company that paid CEO George Vecchione $8 million. Had Vecchione been able to eak by on just $2 million a year, the hospital management company would have been made money. Can we please all agree we’ve got a real economic malfunction when a hospital non-profit loses millions while the CEO earns millions.

“It’s too fast. It’s too drastic. And it’s not good policy practice.” That’s what Camilo Viveiros said about the state public utilities commission proposal to make it easier to shut off heat and electricity for poor people who are behind on their bills.

A great new analysis by Business Insider shows only five states in the nation are doing better than Rhode Island at getting folks signed up for Obamacare … the six top states, in order, are: Vermont, Connecticut, Kentucky, California, Washington and then the Ocean State.

Another snowy owl has been injured in Rhode Island, this one on Rt. 95.

GoLocalProv reports that the commercial fishing industry in Rhode Island could become extinct.

This from Washington Post education blogger Valerie Strauss: “Education reform policy around the country is increasingly being made in secret or without public input — and with a lot of private philanthropic money.”

Rhode Island taxpayers already pays for text books at private schools … why we do this I have no idea.

“Federal workers have reason to be nervous,” reports National Public Radio. That’s because the new budget deal will effectively cut their pensions by making employees contribute more.

And JP Morgan, the too big too fail bank that put low-income Rhode Islanders personal information at risk, was also complicit with Bernie Madoff’s scam … The New York Times reports that the big bank may have to pay $2 billion for turning a blind eye to Madoff’s ponzi scheme.