We have been planning on making another trip to Ottawa County in Ohio specifically Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Magee Marsh, and Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO). Our plans were hastened by the fact that all three locations were having a Holiday Open House on Sunday. With this in mind we planned our trip. Later in the week BSBO began to report, via Twitter, a possible snowy owl in the Port Clinton area. Snowy Owls are uncommon in Ohio but last year there were sightings along Lake Erie from Toledo to Cleveland.
Sunday morning we awoke had breakfast, made coffee, fed the dogs, gathered our things and were out the door. The fifty minute drive was filled with speculations on what species of birds we would see and discussions of how cool it would be to actually see a SNOWY OWL! Our first stop was Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.
Inside the visitor center they have a white board with a list off all the different birds seen that day and in the past week. I scanned the board and pinpointed a few birds that we would zero in on. There was a great horned owl, screech owls, tundra swan, a coot, and American black duck. Anyone that knows the Nerdy Birders knows that we have been obsessed with seeing an owl. So I talked to the volunteer on duty and she pointed out our best shot at finding the great horned owl. After a forty minute walk through the woods all we had to show was a picture of two raccoon butts in a tree.
We had zero luck finding even a sign that there was an owl in the area so we turned our focus to the waterfowl. We very quickly located and identified the tundra swan. The key was locating the small spot of yellow near the eye. The coot and black duck were no where to be seen. Many of the shallow ponds had frozen over making it unlikely that ducks would stick around.
Our next stop was BSBO where they have a nice book store, a bird observation area, and Kenn Kaufman signing books. You read that right folks, KENN effing KAUFMAN! Needless to say we were ecstatic at the possibilities. While we waited for Kenn I noticed Lester, a fellow birder, that was pictured in the tweet posted by BSBO about the snowy owl. I could not help but ask him about the experience. He asked me if we were going to go out looking for him. I told him that I wouldn't even know where to start. He was gracious enough to tell me where he had seen him and gave me some directions.
Here we go our first real break. I thanked Lester got our autograph from Kenn and we were off on our snowy owl chase. We arrived at the location very nervous and not knowing what to expect. We scanned the horizon and checked telephone polls like we were instructed. We moved to different locations but were handcuffed in a way by private property. Every piece of white trash blowing across the field looked like a snowy. Unfortunately our hunt ended without a snowy owl but we both had a great day.
Nerdy Birders joint life list is now at 69 species.
Happy Birding!
Sunday morning we awoke had breakfast, made coffee, fed the dogs, gathered our things and were out the door. The fifty minute drive was filled with speculations on what species of birds we would see and discussions of how cool it would be to actually see a SNOWY OWL! Our first stop was Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.
Inside the visitor center they have a white board with a list off all the different birds seen that day and in the past week. I scanned the board and pinpointed a few birds that we would zero in on. There was a great horned owl, screech owls, tundra swan, a coot, and American black duck. Anyone that knows the Nerdy Birders knows that we have been obsessed with seeing an owl. So I talked to the volunteer on duty and she pointed out our best shot at finding the great horned owl. After a forty minute walk through the woods all we had to show was a picture of two raccoon butts in a tree.
Our next stop was BSBO where they have a nice book store, a bird observation area, and Kenn Kaufman signing books. You read that right folks, KENN effing KAUFMAN! Needless to say we were ecstatic at the possibilities. While we waited for Kenn I noticed Lester, a fellow birder, that was pictured in the tweet posted by BSBO about the snowy owl. I could not help but ask him about the experience. He asked me if we were going to go out looking for him. I told him that I wouldn't even know where to start. He was gracious enough to tell me where he had seen him and gave me some directions.
Here we go our first real break. I thanked Lester got our autograph from Kenn and we were off on our snowy owl chase. We arrived at the location very nervous and not knowing what to expect. We scanned the horizon and checked telephone polls like we were instructed. We moved to different locations but were handcuffed in a way by private property. Every piece of white trash blowing across the field looked like a snowy. Unfortunately our hunt ended without a snowy owl but we both had a great day.
Nerdy Birders joint life list is now at 69 species.
Happy Birding!
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