Search For A Snowy Owl on the Eastern Plains

January 11-13, 2018

Richard Stevens:

January 11

Colder today with a high of 42 degrees.  Winds 13-14 mph with gusts to 22 mph (one was 30 mph).

Rebecca was catching a cold; mine appeared to be worse. I decided to check on a Snowy Owl report near Messex (northeast of Brush, Washington County) and not expose her to my germs.  No Snowy Owls were found on the plains in the next three days.  The rancher claimed to have seen a Snowy Owl four times in the last three days.

A pass through the DIA Owl Loop (Denver/Adams) about thirty minutes before sunrise found a Short-eared Owl working the field east of West Cargo Road and Third Creek.

Most of the morning and early afternoon was spent driving the gravel roads from Union to Beta, I76 to Logan County Road 10 near Merino.  No Snowy Owl!

I scoped Prewitt Reservoir (Logan/Washington) and found few birds.  The resident Eastern Screech-Owls were even quiet tonight.  Eventually I headed for a cold night in my car at Tamarack Ranch Wildlife Area (Logan).

January 12

The front hit the eastern plains. Temperatures were only 32 degrees.  Fortunately, winds were 5-6 mph.

Several Great Horned Owls called in the early morning.  Two Eastern Screech-Owls responded to my recordings just before sunrise.  Most interesting birds were found while hiking the eastern sections from 1East to 7East.  Highlights included two Red-bellied Woodpeckers, a Long-eared Owl, seven Eastern Bluebirds a Northern Cardinal near Tamarack Pond (another later at 1-2West) and two Field Sparrows.

Later I circled nearby Jumbo Reservoir (Logan/Sedgwick).  Nothing uncommon was discovered.  The rest of daylight was spent driving Logan County gravel roads north of Jumbo Reservoir west to Highway 113.  None of my target birds were encountered (Snow Buntings, Common Redpoll, Smith's Longspur).

I opted for a warm motel room in Sterling for the night!!!

January 13

Temperatures rose back up to 55 degrees probably due to the winds 7-8 mph with gusts to 18 mph.

Sterling Reservoir finally provided a target bird.  Two Snow Buntings were observed flying around and landing on the sandy shore north of the northern Campgrounds.

Determined not to spend another night out on the plains, I worked my way back to Denver by way of gravel roads north of Sterling Reservoir (Logan).  After hitting Highway 71, I turned south and slightly east hoping the Logan/Washington Counties Snowy Owl would appear.  It did not.

Once north of Denver, I detoured to Coors Pond (Jefferson).  I missed the fuss that several other birders had encountered.  No one (security?) stopped to confront me when I scoped the Ponds (I did stay on public pullovers).  Two Long-tailed Ducks and the Red-necked Grebe continued to swim around the Ponds.

I timed my trip to arrive at Standley Lake (Jefferson) about an hour before sunset.  The Snowy Owl was not along the south side of Standley Lake and I circled west and north.  About 15 minutes after sunset, the Snowy Owl was observed flying parallel and below the dam.