[wisb] Arctic Gusts and Bubo Glide at Buena Vista Grasslands on 14 March 2014
- From: Michael Huebschen <huebschenhuebschen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 18:41:55 -0700 (PDT)
Hello All,
14 March 2014 took me to the Buena Vista Grasslands on a day on which weather
was in transition and this aging observer harvested a surplus of Snowy Owl
behavior and electronic capture on memory card.
On my arrival around 7:45 A.M., I noted the swift buzz of a falcon sized bird
across Co. Hwy. W just south of the turn where I also noted a male Greater
Prairie Chicken standing on the north margin of the corn stubble, about 70
yards west of the road. I quickly glassed the area, but lost all sign of the
falcon-like bird that had swooped low over the prairie without flushing the
Prairie Chicken. (I am given to wonder if the Falcons as a group key in more
easily on birds that take flight than those that stay still in ground cover.) I
suspect that it may well have been the much celebrated Gyrfalcon documented by
many others.
I spent the rest of the day watching an abundance of Horned Larks, at least two
individual light phase Rough-legged Hawks, a male Northern Harrier that made at
least one microtine capture, an adult Snowy Owl that would have nothing to do
with my approach on foot on Swamp Rd. and a juvenile Snowy Owl that endured the
return of the teeth of the Cryogenic Curmudgeon in late morning as the wind
turned into the northwest and howled at times at 20-35 M.P.H. The adult Snowy
Owl was present west of Elm Rd. and north of Swamp Rd. much of the afternoon.
As luck would have it, I was lucky enough to quietly observe and photograph the
juvenile Snowy in several locales. In the morning, I actually got to watch the
bird hover over an open spot in the field north of W for about 10 seconds. The
all thumbs would-be lensman recorded the moment ONLY in the cerebral sensor, as
his auto-focus system had quit. The bird graced a number of us in late
afternoon on natural
roosts, the best of which was gilded by the opening up of the cumulus blanket
that had held the skies hostage much of the day. Deliverance from the power
pole and overcast sky doldrums arrived in one big swoop! Aesthetic Zenith,
Maynard.
Footnote: Late morning found vast legions of "Snow Fleas" or "Springtails"
(genus Collembola) staging on the melting snow banks hinting that the Winter
Autocrat will not have us in it's recurring grip for many more weeks.
Best Wishes,
Michael J. Huebschen
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- » [wisb] Arctic Gusts and Bubo Glide at Buena Vista Grasslands on 14 March 2014 - Michael Huebschen
