A snowy owl sets up at an Indiana airport
- Bruce Glick: Gone Birding
- December 16, 2020
- 2056
Recently, snowy owls were seen at several places in Northern Indiana including along the Lake Michigan shoreline and this one at the airport in Goshen, Indiana.
We might not have any snow in Goshen as Christmas approaches, but we have a snowy owl. Although snowy owls have been seen in the area over the years, this is the first time one of these beautiful owls has stayed in a location where birders have a good chance of seeing it.
Last week snowy owls were seen at several places in Northern Indiana including along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Last week local folks were excited when a birder photographed a snowy owl at the Goshen airport, located a few miles south of the city.
Airports are a great place for raptors because they usually have large areas of grassland surrounding the runways. That is the case here in Goshen, where the snowy owl has been joined by a dark-phase rough-legged hawk, several red-tailed hawks and American kestrels.
On Dec. 10, I drove out to the airport. This is the place where I learned to fly small planes 50 years ago. I searched the area around the airport where the owl had been seen by other birders for several days. While checking the fields south of the airport, I got a call from Carol, a good friend and birder. She said the snowy owl was on a light pole at the east end of the airport.
It took about five minutes to drive to the location, where three cars were already pulled off by a row of hangers. The owl was perched on a light pole and seemed to pay no attention to the cars or the birders. Carol’s daughter Alta was delighted to finally get to see a snowy owl.
About 10 minutes later, a helicopter appeared, flying low and very close to the owl, which flew to a power pole along the road. Cars driving by on the road caused the owl to leave the pole and fly out to the irrigation rig in the field south of the airport. It stayed there, which worked out well for other birders arriving at the site.
The next day I drove out to the airport again. I couldn’t find the owl at the airport but was glad to locate it at a farm south of the airport. This time it was perched on the roof of a large barn. The barn was surrounded by large fields, which surely harbor lots of mice and voles for the owl. A day later we again tried to find the owl, this time with my granddaughter. Unfortunately, the day was cold, and a light drizzle was falling.
We didn’t find the snowy, deciding the owl was probably perched somewhere out of the rain and out of sight for us. The next day the owl was back at the airport buildings again. I hope it stays around because there are lots of nonbirders who are delighted to see such a beautiful owl, and in the middle of the day.
After I watched the snowy owl the first afternoon, I stopped at the home of John and Elaine Harley, birders who live just across the lake from us. The summer tanager that has been visiting feeders in our part of town soon appeared on a feeder behind the house. Summer tanagers are unusual in our part of Indiana at any time of year, but certainly in December. The bird seems to be a female, but unusual in that it’s yellow with patches of red, as illustrated in Sibley’s guide.
December continues to be a great month for finding northern birds in Ohio and Indiana. I saw a report near here this week of 50 common redpolls at one site, although it’s more likely to see one or two redpolls. Both species of crossbills are showing up in small numbers.
The best bird this week was a pine grosbeak that was located by a birder near the Lake Michigan shoreline and refound the next morning. Hopefully, you will have time to get out and enjoy the outdoors and see some of the wonderful birds of winter. After all, there isn’t much else you can do safely these days.
Blessings to each of you this holiday season.
Bruce Glick can be emailed at bglick2@gmail.com.