62 NEBRASKAland • MARCH 2015
I
was taking an early morning hike through a snowy prairie in my hometown of Aurora
when I found this print in the snow. It was clearly made by a bird, but what kind?
To my untrained eye, it appears the print was made by a bird that was unable to
recover from a dive before it hit the snow. I think I can see two places where the feet
of the bird dragged through the snow – once at the trailing edge of the wings and
once at the "head" of the print – before it regained the air. The linear scuff to the left is
as intriguing as the bird print itself because it was likely made by whatever the bird was
chasing. My initial guess was that the print was made by a small raptor chasing a sparrow
or other small bird, but upon reflection, I don't think the wingspan (10-12 inches) was large
enough for even the smallest of Nebraska raptors. It seems more likely a couple birds were
chasing each other around while feeding on seeds from nearby plants.
I'll never know what really happened to create those prints in the snow, but I'm grateful
to have had my imagination stoked by it. Seeing the actual event
might have been much less interesting!
Chris Helzer, December 22, 2014
Mystery in the Snow
