So first off,I am so excited that I saw my first snowy owl ever and it is in my home county! It was south of Andover on Z50. A long way out on the East side of road, sitting on a fence post looking at road but keeping an eye on the huge flock of white fronted geese.
A special thanks to Betty and Ric for letting me and my small children get a better look though your scope and for the good company, I am glad you stopped to see what I was up to. As for the interesting tree sparrow behavior. About a year ago I was outside playing with my children fairly late in the evening (last year) when I see a fluttering shadow dance around my farm security light. I didn't get a good look and it didn't stick around because I think we spooked it. First thing that came to mind was bat b/c we have a few bats that act the same way in the summer but concluded that would be unlikely in the middle of winter and thought it looked more bird like but was confused at that b/c it should have been snuggled down for the night. I remember there was a lot of snow on the ground b/c we were playing with sleds but it was also a "warm" night. Fast forward to this last Monday. It was 10 PM and it was snowing heavily. My husband and I look outside to see the beautiful flakes falling and we see the fluttering object again and go through the same thought process as last year. Well this year it stuck around for awhile. It landed and vocalized as a "seep". But I could only see a siloette so I decided to go out and have a better look and it was a tree sparrow! It looked like it was trying to eat the snow flakes! Then the wind would kind of carry it away then it would flutter around the pole. If you have some insight feel free to let me. But I was just glad to figure out what it was though still baffled at what it was doing up at 10PM. --- 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/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
