[mou] Snowy Owl - Itasca County

[shawn conrad]

I received a call this morning that there was a possible gyrfalcon in 
northern Itasca County.  When I went there to check it out, the bird turned 
out to be a snowy owl.  It was perched on a bridge guard rail on Lost 40 
Loop Rd north of Dora Lake, off of CR 26.  The bridge is about 1/2 mile 
south of CR 31.  The area is basically a creek cutting through the 
woods...not what I think of as snowy owl habitat.  The bird has been there 
for at least 4 days.  The person I spoke to about it said he saw it dive 
under the bridge and come up with a wet head.  I'm not sure what it could be 
eating there.  It was interesting to see a snowy owl with a green 
backdrop--quite a sight in June.

Based on this odd behavior, it might be suggested that I saw an albino 
barred, great gray, or great horned owl, but this bird had all of the marks 
of a snowy...yellow eyes, slight dark markings on top of head, "moustache" 
of fluffy feathers around bill, etc.

I also saw a black-billed magpie on CR 31, maybe a mile or so east of the 
Lost 40 Loop.

Shawn Conrad
Bovey