I finally saw my second Snowy owl of the year late Friday. It was flying low over the road on Hwy 174 about mp 33 - about halfway between Wilbur and Grand Coulee.

Yesterday about 4 pm there were 2 short eared owls along Waukon Rd. about half way between Waukon and Hwy 2. One was sitting on a post near the road and the other flying nearby.

My first snowy owl of the year was the first week of January 4 miles east of Davenport. It was sitting on the ground about 30 feet from the road. I watched it as I slowly drove past. It was a beautiful owl. There was just one problem. While it was a beautiful snowy owl, it was actually a topiary of a snowy owl made from a tumbleweed and snow.

It reminded me of an incident when my wife's family were out one afternoon. Her father spotted a small passeriform on an old telephone pole. It cooperated by holding perfectly still. In fact, after 20 minutes it still had not moved. While it had the perfect shape for a passeriform, the coloration was very indistinct making actual identification very difficult. He finally decided to drive closer.

When he got closer and at a slightly different angle, he could easily see that what was a beautiful small bird at one angle was actually an insulator that had been used for target practice. Ever since then, a non-viable bird has always been an insulator bird to us.

I have an aunt that is particularly adept at seeing rarities. She would often tell my mother what she was hoping to see. Before the end of the day, she would almost always see that bird. Although none of the rest of us actually saw those birds, we could never convince her that those rarities might not have actually been there.

Hopefully, all your rarities will actually be alive.

Best wishes,
Ron McCluskey
Cheney