Correction -- omit the "Broad-shouldered" hawk. Oops. On 5 Jan 2006, eckma001 wrote: > Dear Mark, > Thanks for your very helpful message. Here is information from my sighting > at MSP on December 27 from 2:00-3:30 pm. Conditions were heavily overcast > and very dreary, light wind, very slight mist. > > I spotted a large Snowy from the FedEx lot. It was perched atop a huge > mound of dirt at the western edge of the airport. It appeared to be almost > entirely white. It moved its head around alot but never flew away. Other > birders arrived, many with scopes. One spotted a scond Snowy, an apparent > female, on a runway sign from a very far distance - I could hardly make it > out with my binoculars. It flew toward the bulk tanks (the surface of > which are almost ground-level) and perched on a bright red runway post > (maybe 20' high) with an inverted U on top, directly to the west and on the > opposite side of the runway. It remained there until I left. This second > bird was heavily mottled, but I was too far away to make out any details.
> A large jet taxied right in front of it and it never moved. > > FYI I saw a Pileated woodpecker on the corner of Carter and Como Avenues in > Saint Anthony Park (St. Paul) on December 24 about 4:00pm. Today I found > some black wing feathers in Hampden Park (about 8" in length with large > white centers) presumably from a Pileated. There are currently Cooper's, > Red-tailed and Broad-shouldered hawks in the neighborhood, which might > explain the feathers. About two weeks ago I witnessed a Cooper's devouring > a Hairy woodpecker five feet from my kitchen window in St. Anthony Park. > > Karlyn Eckman > 651/649-1606 > > On 5 Jan 2006, Alt, Mark wrote: > > I have seen the Snowy Owls twice in the past 24 hours. A 2nd year male > > bird was visible from the FEDEX truck staging lot on Weds afternoon > > (1/4/06). Mark LaRose and Jim Otto and I saw the bird at a distance > > across the runways looking northwest. It was a very light bird with > > brownish markings and a nearly white crown. It was sitting on the ground > > atop a little snow pile. It was over a quarter mile distant, viewed > > through a scope. I saw it at about 4:15 pm. > > > > I watched a female Snowy with many dark feather edges this morning > > (1/5/06) at 9:45 AM. It was visible from Cargo Rd ad you drive east out > > of the first tunnel and then look to you right. This is a large array of > > runways visible; this Snowy was perched atop a runway number sign (I > > forget the number). It was about 300 yards away. It is so heavily > > marked that it looks grey to the naked eye (its back was to me). With > > binos the details come into focus and the patterning can be discerned. > =20 > > > > So, there are at least two birds still at the airport. I encourage all > > viewers to reveal their findings (or not findings) for these birds so we > > can determine if there is a pattern to their behaviors. Please post to > > MOU net with the time of day, exact position of your viewing, relative > > position of the bird, and what the patterning of the bird was. (very > > white on back and top of head, bib extended far down breast vs. very > > heavily patterned black markings on back and breast and cap of head. Bib > > extended only to chin of bird. Please relate if you looked and didn't > > find it , as well. Many people are looking to add this bird to their > > year and life list and more information will be better. Some parts of > > this area do not lend themselves to safe stopping and viewing. The Owl I > > saw today was viewed form an area that has no safe stopping area. Please > > relate how you arranged to see the birds, what your parking and viewing > > points were. > > > > I am hoping to capture more video of these birds, but these distances > > are too great for quality filming, so I may be going back a lot. I will > > post my findings, please do the same. Good Birding. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > mou-net mailing list > > mou-...@cbs.umn.edu > > http://cbs.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mou-net > > > > _______________________________________________ > mou-net mailing list > mou-...@cbs.umn.edu > http://cbs.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mou-net >
