Today's afternoon had too much sunshine to stay inside, so I headed north and east of Riverhead to check for goose flocks - would you believe I didn't see a single goose in my travels today...both in the air or on the ground ! On Doctor's Path, n/o Reeve's Ave, I came upon a flock of ~ 20 Horned Larks feeding along the side of the road. After checking for longspurs, pipits and sparrows after each time a vehicle went by causing the birds to disperse* and then return to their "sweet spot", I moved on with my spirit on the rise !
Heading east, I happen to notice what looked like a mound of snow atop a ~ 30 ft conifer, with no other snow on the rest of the tree - unfortunately, a bell didn't go off ! About 15 minutes later it did, and of course, when I hightailed it back, the "snow" was gone...with no evidence of its remains on the rest of the tree nor on the ground around it ! I believe I saw the back of a large white bird's head and shoulders, and after discounting Gyrfalcon, I believe the bird was a Snowy Owl ! Per Mary Laura Lamont, this species spent part of the winter 2 years ago in this general farm area. This is the only time I have ever thought I had a Snowy Owl at the top of a tall tree, so please feel free to contact me offline to let me know of your experiences. Mary has had a C.Redpoll at her feeders on & off for a month now, but it wasn't there for me this afternoon ! As a consolation prize, I did get 1 of the 2 Brown Creepers that have been responding to the peanut butter/suet she has been pressing into cracks in the sides of a stump in her backyard ! Thanks, Bob -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
