Day 2 - COLD!

Day 2 began blustery and cold and the weather (and temperatures) went downhill from there.

The temperature at 6 am was 26 degrees - by noon the temp had fallen to 19 and would continue to drop throughout the remainder of the day. Winds were gusting up to 30 mph and we had snow flurries early in the morning.

The lows temps and high winds kept us from using my spotting scope to scan the corn and bean fields, dusted with snow, for the elusive Snowy Owl. The wind was the steepest challenge. It cut through my clothing and made the tripod & scope shaky and unstable.

But - good news - the day was not a bust! We started out at Lake Springfield where the warm water discharge from a power plant attracted all sorts of life. We saw large rafts of American Coots and a huge number of  Herring Gulls and Bonaparte's Gulls along with Mallards, Canada Geese, and other waterfowl to far away to clearly identify (thanks to the shaky spotting scope!).

After leaving Lake Springfield, we headed west towards Jacksonville, IL to a spot where several folks had reported sighing a Snowy Owl. These sightings I mention can be found in a searchable database maintained by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology called eBird (click to visit the site).

The light dusting of snow made searching for a white owl a challenge. We spent most of our time driving down farm roads scanning the fields from the warmth of the car. Nothing was stirring in the bitter cold - nothing. We saw a Red-shouldered Hawk, a Red Bellied Woodpecker, a Northern Harrier, and one very fat Fox Squirrel.

Still, we had hope! Twice we made extra effort to get a better look at what we just knew was a Snowy Owl perched on a fence post only to find a snow capped post and no Owl.

Around 2:30, we finally gave into the cold and headed back to Springfield where we visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. An amazing collection of American history and tribute to , quite possibly, our greatest president. If you're ever even close to Springfield, the Lincoln Museum should be a must see - I'll be back.

Day 2 Species Report:
Bonaparte's Gull - Lake Springfield
Herring Gull - Lake Springfield
American Coot -Lake Springfield
Mallard - Lake Springfield
Canada Goose - Lake Springfield
Large rafts of unidentified waterfowl - Lake Springfield
Red-shouldered Hawk - S. Lincoln Rd. Morgan County, IL
Red Bellied Woodpecker - S. Lincoln Rd. Morgan County, IL
Northern Harrier - S. Lincoln Rd. Morgan County, IL
American Coot - County Line Rd. Morgan County, IL