[mou] FW: MSP Airport Snowy

[Alt, Mark]

What a day. I was sitting at Cargo Rd between the two tunnels this Am at
7:45 AM, waiting for Dave Cahlander to show, when I noticed a car stop
down the road. It was twilight, halfway to sunup. It was Dave's car. A
movement caught my eye out of the area in the direction of the 4 huge
antennas (?) in array to the east of the FedEx building. It was a large
Snowy in flight, flapping steadily, making good time, I watched as the
bird veered left, dropping altitude over the de-icing tanks and
disappearing from view to the west. The Owl had flown right over Dave's
car, which prevented him from seeing it. We drove to the de-icing plant,
took care to park out of the way of the work area, set up to scan, being
careful to stay off of the large flat concrete tank containment areas.
I spied a large raptor coming from the direction of the main terminal.
It was in direct flight 75 feet off of the ground heading right for me.
I got my binos on it and saw the evenly patterned body, narrow
moustachial stripe and powerful wing stroke of a Gyrfalcon. This was an
immature grey phase bird. It flew right over me. I yelled to Dave who
was 50 yards away, but he wasn't able to find the bird in the dim
lighting. The bird as it passed right over me and then veered right and
did a shallow stoop towards the ground, then flew to the east at about
30 feet in height and disappeared out of sight. I scanned to where it
had stooped and after 15 minutes of careful study and improved lighting,
there was the Snowy squatting in a snow patch. I doubt I would have
found it if it had not been targeted by the passing Gyr.
The bird was along the runway about 150 yards distant. It was just after
8:00 am, 10 minutes after sunrise. This was a very active bird. It
bobbed its head and stretched its neck to peer in every direction. The
head bobbing was usually followed by a short flight, sometimes landing
in the same area. Perhaps the owl could see another snowy that we
couldn't? Perhaps this is normal foraging behavior? This bird moved ten
times in 45 minutes, and actively foraged over an area I would estimate
to be about 400 acres. This is a huge territory for a bird and indicates
why birds are not seen in the same spot every day. They each may be
covering the whole airport every day.=20
Some Northwest workers told us the best place to find Jackrabbits is
along Hwy 494, in front of the large hangar just north of the Mall of
America.  It might be interesting to see what viewing can be done there
and from what vantage point. Several airport workers stopped to view the
bird; they each were delighted to get such a good view. They all told
the same story, they see them all the time all over; they also see many
jackrabbits and many red foxes. This bird was most likely a first year
male, with more markings on the back, head,  and breast than the bird I
saw yesterday. The tail could be seen clearly and it is not very heavily
marked at all. The white bib is extensive, going down halfway into the
breast of the bird. The crown of the head is lightly marked, yet there
are two prominent spots on the back of the head that resemble eyes,
reminded me of a giant white Pygmy Owl. Ken Speake and a photographer
from KARE 11 news were on the spot to capture some long range shots of
this great bird. I believe it will run on the 5 and 6 pm news this
evening. Good day, great birds. Good birding to you.

Mark Alt
Brooklyn Center
Hennepin County