All posts by richardhoeg@gmail.com

Children’s Owl Picture Book: Smokey Finds a Rainbow!

Year 11
My latest owl children’s picture book, Smokey Finds a Rainbow, is a finalist for the Northeast Minnesota Book Award (NEMBA)! This award recognizes books which “capture the spirit of northeastern Minnesota”. Our local PBS station here in Duluth is hosting an awards reception in mid October for authors, illustrators, and photographers when the winners will be announced.
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Anyone may download a PDF of my book for free from this website!  Here is how you may get your free PDF copy of this book. Follow this link.

Learn more about any of my three owl children’s picture books, which are all available for free download:

Great Gray Owl Reprise!

Year 11

Actually, this is the third time in 9 days … thus the word “reprise” may not be correct as I think it means repeat for a second time. Anyhow I drove north of Duluth yesterday morning. I felt the combination of heavy rains overnight combined with dry conditions and light winds after sunrise might make Great Grays hunt during the day. In addition, parent owls are feeding their juveniles less and less, and given the youngsters are lousy hunters, hunting after daybreak becomes more common.

When my friend and I found the owl it looked drenched, and for the first 45 minutes of our visit, the owl was just trying to dry off. Eventually it flew over to a tree only 10 yards from where I was standing. The key attribute of this tree was it was more open to the breeze. You could tell the Great Gray Owlet really just wanted to get dry.

Anyhow … from yesterday (video link for email subscribers)

Sleeping then Preening

I have NO IDEA at what the owl was looking!

Take-Off (landed right next to me … only 10 yards away!)

Birding the North Shore from Duluth to Two Harbors

Year 11

Yesterday the Cedar Waxwings were at it once again, with flocks containing hundreds of birds working their way south. The magic spot for the morning shortly after sunrise were the Mountain Ash Trees and their berries near McQuade Harbor. Before I provide images of yesterday’s beauty, here are my favorite spots with Google Maps links for the Autumn Migration between Two Harbors and Duluth. Generally bird these spots first thing in the morning driving towards Duluth which puts the sun behind you. This list presents my favorites in that direction.

And here are just a few of the Cedar Waxwings which were gorging themselves yesterday morning on mountain ash berries 300 yards up Scenic 61 from McQuade Harbor.