Snowy Owl! Snow Buntings! Five Lifers! What a Day!

There is nothing more I can say about today except WOW, what - a - day!  I had a birders dream day!  My best friend John, my daughter, and me went to Ft. Wayne (Allen County) today to try our luck at seeing a Snowy Owl that has recently taken up residence in the area.  At first, we were pessimistic since there was some snow on the ground and we weren't seeing anything that stood out to be an Owl.  However, another birder found a distant glob of snow in the middle of the field that appeared to be in the shape of an Owl so we got out and walked some way to find out.  Just as we were all starting to think that the shape was indeed a glob of snow or a rock - it came to life and began to look at us just as you can see in the picture.  I took several shots from far away and was happy I was able to catch a shot of this beautiful bird.  Simply breathtaking.

As we were looking for the owl we came across 3 other species that were additions to my life list.  A flock of Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, and a group of American Pipits.  Can it get any better?

Yes!  Once I got home and was reviewing my pictures, I discovered that there was another 

group of birds I had never seen mixed amongst the Horned Larks - Lapland Longspurs!

Five lifers in 1 square mile!  Merry Christmas to me!