They Finally Showed Up!

“Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Stop! Stop!”

Don was yelling from the backseat.

“There’s a Snowy right behind us! In that rock pile, right there!”

I slammed on the brakes and looked in the rearview mirror, but saw nothing. I started to back up when he exclaimed, “Oh! There! He took off.”

We turned around in our seats and watched the Snowy Owl fly off to the southeast.  Well, we just had to find him! So I turned the car around and headed back east.  In about a half a mile, we came to the closest farmhouse and a farm road heading south.  We turned the corner and didn’t have to go too far before we found him, sitting on a rock pile in the middle of the field.  We set up our tripods and tried to get some photos.

That was the second Snowy Owl we had seen that day.  I had been watching the eBird postings for quite a while, waiting to see if any had been spotted.  Usually they arrive in this area in the beginning of January, but here it was past the middle of February. So, when they showed up on eBird, there was nothing to do but drive the Dry Falls Survey route and see if we could put one or more one our count list.  We are hoping when we return for our last survey in March, that the Snowys will still be there.  After all, they were late arriving, so they should stay longer.

The first Snowy we found was relatively close to the road and didn’t seem to mind the handful of people snapping away with their cameras.  After we stayed there for a bit, we headed along our route, keeping our eyes pealed.  Sure enough, about a mile east, we spotted another about 1/4 mile out in the field. 

Too far to get a good picture, but close enough to get a positive identification. We were happy! 

Another bonus to that area was the fact that Spring migration has started and there were two Merlins cavorting in the air and buzzing the Snowy.  They are way too quick to get a photo, but we were happy to see them.

As we approached those fields between St. Andrews and the Vernal (non) Ponds, we again were met with a number of Northern Harriers. 

They seem to really like that place!  And just a little further we came upon four Rough-legged Hawks.

We have one more month of Winter Raptor Surveys and we haven’t spotted a Gyrfalcon yet.  EBird says they have been seen in the area, so we are keeping our eyes open.  Of course, since they are a sensitive species, we don’t know exactly where they have been observed. We just have a general idea and we know where we have seen them before.  So, we hope to still spot one.

Today’s Survey:

Red-tailed Hawk  4
American Kestrel  1
Northern Harrier  7
Rough-legged Hawk  9
Prairie Falcon  2
Merlin 2
Snowy Owl 3