Three Owls in a Day and a Few Other Winter Birds

On Sunday night, January 8, I read a post on the Central Illinois Birding Group website by Angelo Capparella regarding Fran Harty's sighting of a Snowy Owl at the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington. I wanted to go look for the bird the next morning, but I could not because I had to leave for the early shift at work while it was still dark (5:50 a.m.). One advantage of going in to work so early, however, is being able to get off before it is dark. When I got off, I headed straight for the airport but was unable to find the Snowy. As far as I heard, everyone who tried to see this bird on Monday could not locate it, except for Dale Birkenholz, who saw it early in the morning. I also heard that the bird appeared to be an adult male because it was nearly white all over--just the kind I was hoping to see since the bird I was so blessed to see in November/December was heavily streaked and, therefore, probably a young bird.

In my search, I did come across a horned winter beauty. This Horned Lark was on airport property just off of Oakland.







When I realized I was not going to find the Snowy, I tried to head for Moraine View State Park, hoping to see a Barred Owl or a Pileated Woodpecker again, but the area I hoped to search was occupied by hunters. Then with the light almost gone, I headed to the Saybrook Habitat Area, hoping to see a Short-eared Owl, where one was seen in December, but nothing came up from the prairie. I'm curious whether pheasant season at the Saybrook area drives the Short-eareds away. Short-eared Owl would be a lifer for me, so, hopefully, I'll have better success later this winter after all the hunting is over. But on Monday, I struck out on the owls--no Snowy, no Barred, and no Short-eared.

On Tuesday, I had hardly any light left by the time I left work, but I stopped by Angler's Pond, hoping to see the Northern Mockingbird that Mark Swanson had there. I did not see any mockingbirds, but I did see this Muskrat. Notice the long fat tail on this creature. It was very strange to see this little mammal dragging such an enormous tail behind it.



I had plenty of light when I left for work on Wednesday morning, and it was another beautiful sunny day. As I passed the new bridge South of Towanda on Highway 29, I saw what looked like a hawk in a tree. I turned around to get another pass and a better look. Then I pulled off the road when I noticed the bird was not a hawk, but a Barred Owl.





I pulled back on the road and was about to go for a face straight on shot when I saw a truck coming behind me in the distance. I drove on ahead so I could let the truck by and turn around. When I came back, however, the owl was no longer in the tree. It must have flown to the ground to hunt prey. Suddenly I saw the owl flying up from the direction of the ground, coming straight toward my car. When it saw me, it turned and flew behind my car and into the woods. This happened pretty fast, and I was too amazed to take a picture. Owl #1!

Later that day, I received a text from Matt Fraker, asking if I could come to the Fraker Farm in Woodford County to see a Saw-whet Owl that Matt had found that day on his property. When I was able to get away, I decided to take one of my clients with me to see the owl, knowing how much he appreciated animals. When I went to find this client, I saw another client drawing a picture of an owl. "That's it!" I thought. "I'm taking him too." So the three of us headed to the farm. On the way there, we all saw a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk on N 400 E Rd.

When we arrived, Matt jumped into my car and we drove to the property where he had parked his truck. The boys jumped in the bed of his truck, and we drove on his property to the spot where the owls roost. Once we all got to the spot, Matt realized that the owl was no longer in the spot he had seen it. Fortunately, he was able to relocate it not far from where it had been, but it was tucked in very well and difficult to see. We did not get the good looks at the bird's face that Matt had earlier, but it was still cool to see this little owl, and each of us got to see the bird. Owl #2!





The Long-eared Owls were not in their usual roosting site nearby, so Matt showed the boys some of their pellets on the ground. For anyone who does not know what owl pellets are, the bones and hair of their prey, which they cannot digest, come back up through their mouths in the form of a pellet.

On the way back, we saw three Red-tailed Hawks and about seven or eight deer in someone's yard.



Later on, I saw a couple of white objects in a corn field between El Paso and Gridley. We were very close to where I had spotted a Snowy Owl back at the end of November, so I was hoping another owl might come to the same area. I thought it was probably two white trash bags that I saw in the corn field, but it might be worth while to check. So I pulled off and looked through my binoculars. The first object was a trash bag. The second kind of had the shape of a Snowy, but I was not sure. Then it turned it's head around, and I saw its face. I could not believe it. Another Snowy less than a mile from where I had found my first, and it was an adult male (almost entirely white)--just the kind I wanted to see. I put the scope on the bird so both of the boys could see. Then I took a few shots of the bird before we left. Owl #3!







So I struck out on Monday, but had a home run on Wednesday! And I was so glad that a couple of my boys got to see a couple of those owls. Matt, thanks so much for inviting me to see the Northern Saw-whet, and letting my boys come along!

But the week was not over. Thursday was another early morning at work for me and not much sooner than I had arrived at work it began snowing. In the afternoon, I went looking for the Snowy again, hoping to see this bird in the snow. As I was driving, however, I could not help noticing a flock of about thirty Lapland Longspurs on N 400 E Rd. Here is a small gallery of these birds.

















Here is a video of the same birds.



This last shot reminds us of why this bird is called a longspur.



I also stopped by Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds on the way to see the owl. There was a small flock of Horned Larks on the road adjacent to the ponds, and further down there was a mixed flock of mostly longspurs with a few larks. Inside the fence, in the grass between the ponds, there was a flock of about 40 Lapland Longspurs.





It was exciting to watch these birds feeding in the snow storm. When I arrived at the Snowy location, I saw a truck sitting still on 1800 Rd. I pulled into this frozen dirt road and walked toward the truck to see who was in it. It was Aaron Yount, nature photographer, artist, and fellow birder. Aaron had his mother with him so that she could see this bird. Aaron said this was his last hurrah before moving to New York.

The Snowy had moved just West of where I had seen it the previous evening, and I was able to see it through my binoculars, but the snow was interfering with the autofocus on my camera, which was okay because I was happy with the shots I had taken the day before.

Aaron, it was nice to see you again, and best wishes in New York!