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Snowy Owl Fly-By

Snowy Owls are native to the Arctic. But in the winter, they head south. Some wind up in southern Canada and the northern United States.

For example, two years ago, a snowy owl made news when it was hit by a bus in Washington, D.C. The National Zoo treated the owl to help it heal.

It even received some artificial feathers so it could fly again.

Snowy Owl captured by a traffic camera in Quebec, Canada.

This week, another snowy owl made headlines because of a unique fly-by in Canada.

A traffic camera in Montreal caught some images of a dramatic pass by a snowy owl on Jan. 3.

The transport minister of Quebec tweeted about the owl on Thursday and then released a video of the fly-by later in the day.

Take a look for yourself.

The female owl swoops by, looking directly into the camera lens.

The CBC posted the video on its Facebook page. It has been seen almost 4 million times in less than a day.

A bird expert from McGill University in Montreal tells the CBC a snowy owl sighting is rare, even though it is the official bird of Quebec.

A Mystery for a Raccoon

Earlier this week there was a lot of sympathy for a raccoon in Japan that tried to eat some cotton candy.

A video showed the raccoon with a block of sweet, white cotton candy. But the raccoon dipped the candy into a pool of water and it dissolved.

The raccoon lost its treat!

Lots of people on Twitter and Facebook posted about how sad they were for this raccoon.

But then, more video came out later in the week showing that the raccoon was part of a Japanese television show that demonstrated how raccoons like to put their food in water before they eat it.

The longer video showed the raccoon trying to wash its cotton candy block twice, and it dissolving twice.

But then the raccoon learned about how cotton candy worked. And it kept the treat out of the water this time.

The raccoon was happy, and people on social media were relieved.

And that's What's Trending Today.

Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

Have you ever seen a snowy owl or another rare bird? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on 51VOA.COM.

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Words in This Story

dissolve – v. to mix with a liquid and become part of the liquid

lens – n. a clear curved piece of glass or plastic that is used in eyeglasses, cameras, telescopes, etc., to make things look clearer, smaller, or bigger

swoop – v. to fly down through the air suddenly