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Hunting WBFs

Okay, apparently I needed to be taught a lesson for complaining too much about Internet connectivity.  Soon after whining about my provider issues in the last post we were greeted with a nightmare storm.  70 mph wind gusts coupled with solid sheets of rain and if that wasn’t oodles of fun enough – throw in some hail.  It eventually got to a point where we couldn’t see the road on our way home and had to pull off to allow it to settle.  Finally get home, sit down at the computer to see how long the storm is going to last and bam – power goes out.  I’m cursed.  Luckily we had invested in a whole house genset soon after building our house in the country – take that karma gods ha.    Anyway, all good now, power back and Internet connectivity .. well, better.  Let’s celebrate with a new post!

Snowy Owl found in McLean County, IL December 2019

Pretty impressive eh?  What, you don’t appreciate shots of plastic bags in a corn field!?!?!  The embarrassing thing is I have hundreds of pictures of random bags taken during the winter months.  I am guessing this may seem odd to you, however, I would bet that most Midwestern birders also have their share of photos of WBF’s or “White Bags in a Field” – garbage bags, chip bags, Walmart bags – the list goes on – typically at a distance in picked or plowed farmland between December and say early March.

Hit the jump if you want to see the reason for the bag shots – no, I am not losing my mind!

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One Awesome V-Day Gift

For all those Globull Warmers errr Climate Change .. or how about Season Deniers out there, figured I’d go with a little SNOW in September (and celebrate 17 years and 11 months of NO Globull Warming – not to mention NOAA having to restate that 2012 was NOT the hottest year ever instead it was something like 1937).  I’ve actually been meaning to get to this post for some time now and finally found a few cycles to do some badly needed work in the digital darkroom.  This happened to be one of those rare times when I get so excited during a shoot that I overlooked some essential techniques.  The result is a slightly soft set but that is a small price to pay for the huge smile that it generated then and every time I get the chance to look back on the products.  To cut through the suspense, I give you a cherished new checkmark in the Ol’ Bird List!
Snowy Owl

In case you for some reason you don not recognize this particular bird of prey, it is the Snowy Owl.  Let me add some emphasis on that … my #2 on my most wanted list Snowy Owl!!!  Well, technically it became my #1 on the list having checked off the previous #1 on a trip in 2013 (someday I’ll get to that post as well).  Two of my highly coveted birds checked off in less than a year Woot!

Snowy Owl

As you might have figured out from the title, I owe a big thanks to Linda for this prized bird.  On Valentine’s Day, Linda hands me a notecard with some writing on it.  Thinking that was kinda of an odd gift I started to read it and about had a heart attack.  She had found a sighting online of this majestic bird relatively close to us and was willing to help hunt it down.  How cool is that – what can I say, somebody loves me.  We had talked a number of times about going up to Chicago where some people were posting pictures of one they found up there.  That is a fairly long drive for us especially if we were to fail to locate one.  We were actually waiting for my brother to make a quick walk down there and snap a photo for us since he already lived in the City … save us the hassle of driving all the way up there… hmmm we are actually still waiting for those pictures .. some lame excuse about it being too cold or something (he is an avid reader of this blog so feel free to use the comments to chastise him for that elitist Chicago attitude.)

Snowy Owl

Hit the jump to read more about this uber cool bird of prey!

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