Somerset Snowy

After a short walk in the Owl Woods (Chickadees only, but I love Chickadees so that's OK) I drove out to Somerset yesterday to get a look at the Snowy Owl at Sawyer Cemetery.  I checked out the fields along the way, turning up small flocks of Snow Buntings and Horned Larks on Foss and Marshall Roads.  No luck at my favorite Northern Shrike spot near Yates Town Park, though.  The Snow Buntings on Foss were fun to watch, picking at the bushes in the yard of the big farm house near the Amish school - they were contorting themselves into all kinds of positions!  I saw at least one Lapland Longspur on Marshall, but overall the flocks were quite small and largely lark-y.

When I got to the cemetery, I was dismayed to see a car in the ditch, watched over by a police car, right where I wanted to park.  I hope it wasn't a birder gone astray!  That section of the road was covered with blown snow and very slippery.  After a few passes, I saw another car turn around and park across the road from the cemetery on the north side of the road, so I pulled in behind and started to scan.  An interesting lump in the snow seemed to merit a scope view, so I hopped out and checked it out...yep, there was the Snowy Owl!  The car in front of me held Joe Stein and family, who also enjoyed some nice looks at this distant bird through my scope.  The Owl was sitting on the west side of the field, swiveling its head and occasionally preening.  It was nice to finally see a Snowy this year!

I stopped at Golden Hill State Park on my way home.  There was actually a little bit of open water there, unlike the ice-choked lake spots to the east.  All I saw was Goldeneye, Red-Breasted Mergansers, and Long-Tailed Ducks, however.  I hope we have a warming trend before it's time to do the Waterfowl count, since I'd like to report some decent numbers this time around!

Not a very birdy day, but the Snowy Owl and lovely weather made it a winner. :)