It was a cold and windy day (that has to be the opening line to something!)...We were traveling from Chicago, IL to TN and since we were as far north as we were probably going to be this winter, I was determined to try to find a Snowy Owl. I had spend as much of the previous Thursday as I could searching Chicago for one, but luck was not with me and the high of 22 degrees and the early nightfall forced me to end my search earlier than I had hoped. We started out from Chicago and made it to Miller Beach, IN by early afternoon. After a decent walk along Lake Michigan (which was a beautiful greenish-blue) we saw Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls, a Great Black-backed Gull, a female Common Goldeneye, Common and Red-breasted Mergansers, and Eared and Horned Grebes, but no Snowy Owl. We decided to head on to Michigan City, IN to try to beat nightfall, which was occurring around 4:30pm. We got to the harbor as it was starting to get dark. I grabbed my scope and made for the lighthouse, where the a Snowy Owl had been seen a few days earlier. As I scanned the rocks jutting out from the lighthouse, I couldn't believe it, it looked like there was an owl out there. I headed down the icy walkway towards the lighthouse as quickly as I could, trying to beat quickly fading light. I was still a good ways from the lighthouse jetty, but I had cut my distance in half. I set the scope up again and scanned the rocks...success!!! There was the Snowy Owl, quietly perched on the rocks! Between the distance and the darkness, the pictures are not the best, but the owl is discernible. The area was beautiful and exposed surfaces had thick layers of ice like I have never seen before. I can't imagine what it looks like by the end of winter! After the thrill of finding the owl, we stayed to look at the incredible Christmas light display at Washington Park. The parks association did a great job with everything from Christmas and winter themed displays to dinosaurs and even a lighthouse.
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September 2022
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