Could be meat, could be cake, it's meatcake!

George Carlin-refrigerator man reference. I wonder if some of my titles are too archival. Could be a hawk? Could be an owl? It's a hawkowl!

Anyway, Northern Hawk Owl, been there, done that! 687!  Life bird for both of us!

We had looked for it up and down the highway along Lake Superior in February. John was in Alaska in May looking up and down 100 miles of highway for the little rascal. Both places, it had been spotted regularly.Where should we go to try to see it before the new year? We consulted ebird, threw the dice and decided.

We flew into Milwaukee about midnight. Rented a car the next morning, Sunday, December 23rd. Got to the intersection of County Road Q and Highway 57 up on the thumb of Wisconsin about 1 PM. I turned left on Q, glanced left towards a red barn. On the top of a small conifer, there it was! Looked like a double-scoop ice cream cone with that long pointy tail. It seemed to pay no attention to us as it flew to several treetops north and south of Q, staying west of 57. John took enough pictures to be moderately happy with one. We drove back to Milwaukee, turned in the car about 6 PM and bummed a ride from our son to Chicago.

If the weather permits, we will fly to Miami on Thursday.

And they're off!

We had decided to fly from home instead of Seattle. We drove from Eugene OR to Orange County CA in about 14 hours, straight through. That was Wednesday, December 19th. Thursday to recover, Friday to book flights, and Saturday to take off. Everything was so booked up we will be traveling 1st class to Wisconsin. John is after his last owl there, Northern Hawk Owl. Last February, we trolled for it up and down the highway along Lake Superior without success. We will look for it Sunday and early Monday at an intersection on the thumb of Wisconsin.

Christmas in Chicago, and then we will fly to Miami. Still don't know how long we will be there. I have tried to get someone to take us around, may find someone yet. Miami is such a rabbit warren of streets. The birds are so hit and miss. At least, it will be warm and Tropical Audubon has some good postings. We'll have fun, but we may well be flailing our arms and yelling at each other, if you happen to see us driving around.