[mou] FW: MSP Airport Snowy

[esteb02@frontiernet.net]

Mark,

Just as I was reading your post, my wife yelled that there was owls in 
the news on channel 11!  So, I stopped reading to go take a look at the 
story on KARE 11.  Now I have a faces to go with a couple of names on 
the list.

It just seemed strange reading your post and seconds later seeing 
everything on TV!

Steve Estebo
Lakeville

Quoting "Alt, Mark" <Mark.Alt@bestbuy.com>:

>
> 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.
> 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
>
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