Snowy Owl - Will County

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bill schafer

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Jan 13, 2025, 6:36:55 PM1/13/25

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I’m not a bird chaser. But after reading Al Stokie’s posts about the snowy owl in Prairie Bluff F.P. and realizing it's only 20 minutes from my house, I decided to take a look. We hadn’t seen a snowy since the last big irruption.

I read the prairie had been closed because of misbehaving birders, but figured it was just a weekend thing and would be open Monday. So we drove by Monday evening 4:15pm.

The prairie is still closed and two cop cars were posted at the entrance. So we drove past, turned around, and as we approached the entrance from the west, we saw the owl perched on a 10-foot pole, just behind the cops.

We pulled into the warehouse on the north side of Renwick for a better look, getting a very nice view from the car. He didn’t move off the pole. A northern harrier was also floating over the prairie.

It’s too bad the birding community, cops, and park district can’t work together in a situation like this. Collect $10 per car and put up yellow tape to minimize damage. Let us enjoy nature without harassing it.