I bet if the specific area to which you were directed is part of a very suitable (i.e. food-rich, open) larger habitat, you might stand a good chance of finding the owl claiming that territory for awhile. However, you should probably be prepared to do a stake-out either early or late in the day. Just make the drive worthwhile no matter what, by checking an atlas or Googlemaps to look for other suitable habitat or birding stops along the way. That way you can't lose, Snowy or not. Also, if you live in the Twin Cities, if may be worth checking the airport on a regular basis. Even though the trappers have become more efficient at catching and re-locating Snowys, that doesn't mean new ones won't move in to take over the territory. Linda Whyte
On Sun, Dec 25, 2011 at 10:15 PM, Fr. Paul Kammen < [email protected]> wrote: > It's been quite exciting to see the many posts on snowy owl sightings. > Having > never seen one, my hopes are to find one this winter and photograph it. > However > as a novice birder, I'm not sure what the best plan of action would be. > > Friday I got some nice eagle photos, and stopped at the eagle center in > Wabasha. A birder who works there told me of an owl regularly being seen > near > Onalska, and he gave me specific directions to the place off a county road > near a > fence post and a barn down the road. While tempting, I'm also wondering if > it's > worth driving 3 hours to a place I've never been in an attempt to find the > owl, or > if I'm better waiting and looking on this list, and spending the time > along Black Dog > Road. I had no problem finding the Purple Sandpiper this fall and driving > a couple > of hours, but for those of you with more experience is a snowy owl > reported at a > location likely to be seen at the same spot repeatedly? > > Any tips would be appreciated. I'll be going up to Sax-Zim in January as > well, so > may get lucky there though I'll be with a friend who has more experience > than me > on that trip - typically I head out alone with my photo gear. Thanks for > the > advice and Merry Christmas, > Fr. Paul > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
