ere gt) oe ots OAN: Be sin te Geb lN 4) 
talk. A film strip was presented by Mrs. Wasson on the “Illinois Prairie 
Path,” depicting the possible use of the abandoned right-of-way of the 
Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad for a nature and recreation area. 
Attendance at the banquet was 164. President Mostek, as master of 
ceremonies, greeted the guests and Miss McIntosh gave the response. A 
silent tribute was paid to the memory of Miss Rachel Carson. Betty Groth 
presented the I.A.S. Man-of-the-Year Award to George Fell of Rockford for 
his outstanding work in conservation, The Nature Conservancy, The 
Prairie Chicken Foundation, etc. Harold Wilson of Ephraim, Wisconsin, 
the guest speaker, showed his color movie, “From Gulls to Eagles,” which 
captured the highlights of 40 years of bird banding. His camera took us 
from the north woods to Florida; his subjects ranged from tiny kinglets 
to majestic eagles. 
The three field trips Sunday morning were led by G. N. Hufford and 
Bill Hughes (Will County Audubon Society) and Karl Bartel. The trips 
covered rivers, marshes, woods, lakes, prairies, and roadsides. Alfred Reuss, 
compiler for the count, announced that 128 species had been seen and 
commented on the absence of the bluebirds. About 50 enjoyed a box lunch 
in Channanhon State Park. 
Al Reuss and Mrs. M. G. Ericson, who were in charge of the meeting 
and all arrangements, are to be commended for making this meeting such 
a success. This 1964 convention was the largest one in our 67 years as a 
group. The members of the I.A.S. thank the Will County Audubon Society 
for their hospitality. 
501 East 4th Street, Minonk, Illinois 
ical i is ital 
Snowy Owl Observations 
By Mc. & Mrs. Fred Brechlin 
On the last day of 1963 my husband and I drove to the Lake Michigan 
waterfront to check for any new arrivals. Upon reaching the lake we were 
surprised to see that the open water had re-frozen and consequently 
there was not a duck or gull to be seen in the area. However, we continued 
driving and searching around the circle at Montrose Harbor and then 
south to Belmont Harbor, where we spotted a dark gray lump on the ice. 
When I focused my binoculars on the moving mass, I found myself staring 
into a pair of baleful yellow eyes and shouted, “a Snowy Owl!” I then 
tried to see what it was doing and much to my dismay, saw that“it was 
sitting on a live Mallard Duck which evidently had been frozen in the ice. 
As we watched the owl, it slowly picked feathers off the back of the 
duck’s neck and every now and then would swivel its head around, scanning 
the area. Occasionally it would stretch out its large wings to regain its 
balance on the back of the duck. This owl had a dark gray coloration and 
the only time one could see white was when the wings were outstretched 
or in flight. 
After we watched the owl pecking the duck for about forty minutes, 
Wwe saw it take off, carrying the duck to the peninsula about 100 feet east, 
where it settled on a manure pile. (Examination the next day showed that 
the lower part of the duck must have been left in the ice, for we could 
only find the head and wing sections remaining.) As it was now getting 
quite dark, we reluctantly left the owl to enjoy its dinner in solitude. 
1826 Foster Avenue, Chicago, III. 60640 
