From a small town to a big city...
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A Birding Blog
By Jared Conaway
From a small town to a big city...
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Hi everyone! Welcome back to the TIMELINE SERIES, you know, the series that Jared's been slacking on doing! Honestly, I was being lazy. I probably have about 25 more adventures to write about from Alaska, plus I finished school early today, so I have no excuse to not be typing write now (get it ;). Here's the thing, I don't remember exactly what day I saw this large, fluffy bird, I just know I went searching for it again 5 times or so after seeing it. So with that, let's dive into my 6th TIMELINE post!
It was a gray day. A perfect day for a spectacular bird. A bird that I almost couldn't believe seeing. My favorite animal. For a while, a GREAT GRAY OWL was being reported on the Palmer Hay Flats, a few times. The bird's distance from the road didn't allow for any photos from anyone, but was still positively identified. I couldn't believe it, a Great Gray rarity just 15 minutes away!!! I had always wanted to see this amazing bird, it was a dream of mine. I couldn't just let this bird slip away, not without a chase. I mean, this is the GREAT GRAY OWL we are talking about. It's not just a Pied Wheater that ended up in Nome ;), this is the Great Gray Owl! On Monday, I got up too late for the chase, it was to be done around 8:00 in the morning, so Tuesday it is! on Tuesday, I got up a little more decently, but my brother and I left a little later than the ideal time. The day was very gray. fog and light rain, a perfect back drop for a foggy looking bird. It didn't obscure my view by much, in fact the lighting was decent, and would make my owl sighting more ominous. In the fog and rain, a large lump on a dead Black Spruce would stand out pretty easily. As we drove, many HARLAN'S HAWKS were perched on the various snags out on the flats. Harlans' are a very different shape from a Great Gray Owl, so it didn't cause any difficulty. At least 4 of them were perched on snags, that I could see, but many more had to have been further away from the road. Then, about a minute away from the Harlan's, a huge bird- wide from head to breast, tapering towards the tail, giving the appearance of an upside down tear drop- was perched on a tall snag less than 50 yards away! OH MY GOSH, I thought, I THINK I JUST SAW THE OWL, OH MY GOSH!!!! My thoughts were going wild, the word "Great Gray Owl" rang in my head, I got that weird feeling that I'd just seen my target lifer, I was excited, but I couldn't believe I saw it. You couldn't even tell I was excited as I sat still, quietly, and with a blank expression on my face as I thought about what just happened. As I sat there like an idiot (an idiot because I should have told my brother to turn around, as soon as the owl was spotted) my Great Gray thoughts kept coming closer and closer to the top of my head, until finally, I blurted out, "um, Ken, um, I think I just saw the Owl back there." I have this habit, when I know I just saw a lifer I really wanted to see, I never scream that i saw it, I just state it in the most calm voice ever, because I just can't believe I saw it. The issue was, there wasn't a single pullout along the road until Reflections Lake, about another 5 minutes away. Once we turned around, I kept both eyes sharp and on the flats. I don't really remember whether or not I re-located the bird, you would think I would have seen it again, but as far as I could remember, I don't think I did re-find it, that day. That's right, I did say that day, so the story doesn't end there! I can think of a couple times I saw the Owl again there. One day, it was very sunny, we were either coming back from Anchorage or Reflections Lake (if it was Reflections Lake, then that was the day I saw my lifer WESTERN WOOD-PEWEES) and I raised my binoculars to a distant raptor. I was extremely happy to see the Great Gray owl again, this time I could clearly see color, and saw his characteristic bow-tie neck pattern. He was very distant, so I couldn't see every detail, but I saw color, patterns, and shape well enough to confidently ID him as a GREAT GRAY OWL, that is, the Great Gray Owl!!! I was also very happy because although he was still on the same side (on the left coming from Palmer) he was quite a ways from his original location, and it'd probably been a few weeks or a month since my last, confirmed observation. A few times I was very skeptical, and not sure enough to identify a raptor as the Great Gray, but at least 2 times, my first and last sighting, I confirmed him! And that's one of my most cherished memories from birding in my old home state! I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next TIMELINE post! Leave a LIKE if you want me to draw the Great Gray Owl, and HAPPY BIRDING!
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December 2019
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