Sunday, December 24, 2017

Search for Snowy Owls

December 21, 2017

Richard Stevens:

Terry Michaels and I spent most of the day driving around Logan and Sedgwick Counties in search of Snowy Owls (previously reported and undiscovered).  Temperatures reached a cool 36 degrees.  Winds were outrageous at 20 mph with gusts to 32 mph.

After failing to find the Snowy Owl along Interstate 76 and mile marker 130 (Janice & Paul Sweet, 12/20), our five hour efforts paid off.  A female Snowy Owl stood in a field southwest of the intersection of Logan CR 67 and CR 38!  The owl was approximately 3.4 miles northeast of Galien.

Horned Larks were the majority bird found today.  Six and two Lapland Longspurs were encountered at separate locations.  The second surprise of the day was a Northern Goshawk way out on the eastern plains.  A male was along CR 55, south of Interstate 76.

Our birding day ended at Sterling Reservoir (Logan).  One Greater White-fronted Goose was among the thousands of White-cheeked Geese.

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