I just returned home from a big loop unsuccessfully looking for Snowy Owls. I got to the Boone site about 11:30 and suspected that it was the owl lying flat in the field but my scope has not yet returned from the surgical center so I wasn't 100% positive. I then went to Ames and struck out on that bird as well. Rather than heading straight south I went back over to Hwy 17 and this time could see more barring on the bird so was reasonably certain it was the Snowy. No Snowy Owl at Neal Smith NWR either, but I was fortunate enough to watch a Short-eared Owl cruising over the grasses along the road past the maintenance buildings to the south of the visitor center. It was kind of cool to drive the road through the bison pasture and have bison on one side of the road and elk on the other.
Ann Johnson Norwalk, IA --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/membership.asp. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
