Subject: [Tweeters] 266 Great Gray Owls at one spot in two hours?!!?
Date: Feb 12 06:22:21 2005
From: Pterodroma at aol.com - Pterodroma at aol.com


Everyone's probably heard or read about the epic Minnesota Great Gray Owl
(and Hawk Owl) invasion this winter by now, but this little bit posted on the
Missouri listserv this morning is quite astonishing not to mention make one drool
with envy!

"Spectacular birding events such as those found in the lower Rio Grande
Valley of Texas and northern MN are rare and should be witnessed if at all
possible! In MN, over 170 road-killed Great Gray Owls have been turned in
to local museum collections - invariably females. Apparently the females
feed closer to roadways and males tend to stay further from harm's way. In
the space of a couple hours, a friend of mine counted 266 Great Grays in
flight from one spot along the lake shore!! Just go - you won't regret it."

I don't know the specifics or the person posting this but know a lot of
birders have made the journey to Minnesota judging from all the euphoric accounts
of their memorable experiences and the MN listservs are the place to check up
on what's going on recently.

Richard Rowlett
Bellevue (Eastgate), WA