Kip’s Comments - March 30, 2025

Snowy Owl - Image 955584

From my social media post from earlier today…

This morning I watched the snowy owl fly into position from some distance away. There were no indications of any physical limitations. When the snowy owl landed, the bird then began preening until feathers were what was wanted. Other than the fact that this owl is still here in late March, its behavior appeared normal. (I watched the owl about 45-minutes - nothing unusual noticed.)

There have been suggestions about capturing the bird to be evaluated. Questions about this are:

1. How do you capture a bird that has no problems flying the length or more of a typical Iowa farm field?

2. How would the stress of chasing the bird to capture impact the bird?

3. Why capture a bird that is not showing any indications of poor health? Maybe this is a young bird slowly working its way north.

Could it have issues? Certainly, but nothing is showing at this time.

Snowy Owl - Image 954971

I am not seeing any reason to attempt a capture at this time. Hopefully sometime soon the bird will continue its journey north.

Snowy Owl - Image 955230

Snowy Owl - Image 955608

Also seen this morning were trumpeter swans, American white pelicans, and wild turkeys

Trumpeter Swans - Image 955821

American White Pelicans in Fog - Image 954958 (Notice two gulls)

Strutting Wild Turkeys - Image 955744 (in fog)