A cold day without much wind or sun on Saturday resulted in 56 species for the count this year. A Snowy Owl was found out in the middle of West Lake Okoboji first thing in the morning. It was hunkered down on the ice in the snow, but could not be relocated later in the day. Thirteen species of waterfowl plus coots was impressive variety given that the only open water was three small holes in the ice; one on East Okoboji Lake, one on West Okoboji and one on Spirit Lake. Good finds included one Greater White-fronted Goose, one American Black Duck and one Greater Scaup. Only three Cackling Geese were found among several thousand Canada Geese.
Three of four field parties found good numbers of Rusty Blackbirds, Eastern Bluebirds and robins were found, and the raptor group included Northern Harrier and Rough-legged Hawk. A Northern Shrike was found and another shrike had to be listed as species only because it flashed in front of the vehicle late in the day in hot pursuit of an unidentified songbird and disappeared into a large farm grove nearby. Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Birdy New Year! Lee A. Schoenewe Spencer --- 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]. Unsubscribe at http://iowabirds.org/Reporting/Listserv.aspx.
