<HEAD> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <P>Hello,</P> <P>When I arrived at the Mpls airport around 8:40 am, there were several birders with scopes lined up by the Glycol facility. They pointed out the three Snowy Owls that could be seen in the distance. One of them said that he had seen a 4th Snowy earlier. I left to find a restroom, and when I returned, two of the Snowy Owls were still visible. One flew and landed next to another one. Thankfully all the birders with scopes today were very kind about sharing.</P> <P>Sometime between 9:40 - 10:15 two Snowy Owls flew towards the Fed Ex building. A few of us drove that direction to see if we could relocate them. I spotted a Snowy Owl on the Fed Ex building around 10:15 am. Then I spotted Jim Williams in the parking lot next to me. He had spotted the Snowy before me and it looked like he was taking pictures. I pulled into the lot where Jim was parked and enjoyed watching the Snowy for another 15 minutes before the crows chased it away. Other birders arrived in time to see the Snowy before the crows came. Unfortunately I was changing the battery in my camera when the Owl flew away and missed another flight photo op. </P> <P>I uploaded two of the photos that I took today. Before the other birders arrived, the Owl was looking down at the dumpster for a few minutes. Here's a link to my Owl Gallery. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the image.</P> <P><U><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://home.earthlink.net/~twolfe_birder/index_5.htm#65";>http://home.earthlink.net/~twolfe_birder/index_5.htm#65</A> </FONT></U><A href="http://home.earthlink.net/~twolfe_birder/pages/Snowy_2006-01-08_7396.htm";></A></P> <P>AJ Morales showed me one of his photos he took digiscoping, and it was a great shot. </P> <P>After the owl on the Fed Ex building left, I hung around until noon. All of the birders from the morning had left, and a new group arrived. I relocated an Owl in the same area where they were this morning and pointed it out to some other birders. It was sitting on the 22-4-K sign. Later I saw some birders in the UPS parking lot and joined them briefly to view the Owl by the black # 8. It was not very active. I did not add a photo of this Owl to my gallery because I didn't get a good quality image. However, if you want to see it, here it is: </P> <P><A href="http://home.earthlink.net/~twolfe_birder/images/IMG_2006-01-08_7426%20(Snowy).jpg">http://home.earthlink.net/~twolfe_birder/images/IMG_2006-01-08_7426%20(Snowy).jpg</A></P> <P>Besides getting another close-up view of a Snowy Owl and seeing them in flight 4 times, I enjoyed meeting more birders and putting some faces to the names I see on MOU and MN Bird. A couple of the birders later in the morning said that this was their first Snowy, and it was fun to share their excitement.</P> <P>Happy Birding!</P> <P>Tammy Wolfe<BR>Lake Elmo</P> <P>p.s. I've seen the Kestrel on 4 of my visits to the airport. A few birders mentioned seeing the Kestrel today. I had a distant view. Here's a photo that I took on December 24. Caution: It's eating prey. <BR><A href="http://home.earthlink.net/~twolfe_birder/images/IMG_2005-12-24_6743_Kestrel.jpg ">http://home.earthlink.net/~twolfe_birder/images/IMG_2005-12-24_6743_Kestrel.jpg </A></P> <P>This Kestrel dropped its prey when a Snowy flew in. </P></BODY>
