All posts by richardhoeg@gmail.com

Meet Fuzz Ball the 2nd! (Great Horned Owlet #2)

Year 10,

I actually was first able to spy “Fuzz Ball the 2nd” two days ago, but I was so excited with my local evening grosbeaks yard birds (still here this morning), that Fuzz Ball had to wait for its own blog post. In fact, I went outside this morning at 6:15 am … in the rain … to insure the bird feeders were full and ready to welcome any evening grosbeaks.

Monday it was a cold, wet, and windy day. I really wasn’t very motivated to go birding, but I was concerned that my owls would think I did not like them anymore. Thus, in the drizzle I hiked over to the nest and discovered “Fuzz Ball the 2nd!” Both owlets do not really fit under Momma Great Horned Owl anymore, but that Lake Superior wind was cold!

Fuzz Ball the 2nd! (and sibling)(both trying to stay warm)

Fuzz Ball the 1st Expressing an Opinion of The Photographer!

Meanwhile the other birding has been fantastic. Migration is finally in full force. At the Pioneer Road / Rice Lake Wetlands I found this rare bird (as noted by eBird)

Short-Billed Dowitcher (and a Dowitcher in non breeding plumage)

And of course my own Evening Grosbeaks when the sun finally arrived yesterday afternoon.

The Chalet and Greasy Spoon!

Year 10

When I was a young boy in the 1960’s it was my job to fill the bird feeders at our Duluth home. Our feathered friends loved the feeders, particularly their locations 1+ story up from the ground and within a few feet of a big Blue Spruce. I quickly named our feeders “The Chalet and Greasy Spoon”. One feeder was shaped like a ski chalet (at least in the mind of an eight year old), and the other feeder quickly was named “The Greasy Spoon”.  Birds who used the Greasy Spoon wanted food quickly, and lots of it! This feeders was a large, open platform feeder which attracted all kinds of birds, including tons of Evening Grosbeaks (even Red Crossbills used the Greasy Spoon). You had to be a “high class” bird to visit The Chalet!

As most of you know the population of Evening Grosbeaks has crashed since the 1960’s. According to All About Birding: “populations dropped by an estimated 74% between 1966 and 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight”. For over ten years I have filled my own home’s “Greasy Spoon” in the hopes of attracting the golden birds, but although I could attract Pine and Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks, the yellow guys stayed away. Finally, yesterday it happened! My yard was alive with birdsong, including Evening Grosbeaks. The flock stayed all day, and some are still around this morning. If I get really lucky, a few will stay and nest in our pine forests on Amity Creek.

I don’t normally do feeder photographs, but … !

In this sequence you will see a White-Throated Sparrow been informed it must wait in line before using the Greasy Spoon! Lots of American Goldfinches were also told yesterday they had to wait for a table! And yes … The Greasy Spoon is at an angle due to not one, but two bear visits already this spring. The bear bends the metal pole, and I attempt to straighten same the next morning.

The Greasy Spoon Serving its Customers! (video link for email subscribers)

Meet Fuzz Ball the 1st! (Great Horned Owlet)

Year 10

Yesterday afternoon the stars aligned, or should I say the owls, sun and open eyes!

I found the nest on March 12th, which may have been the day of the first egg was laid. At this point, I don’t know how many owlets are in the nest. It is obvious at least one youngster is still under Mom, and GHO owlets are born up to 7 days apart (the eggs are laid that far apart in terms of time), In past years the owlets had actually fledged by this date (i.e. were able to fly). (See the nesting timeline from Cornell) Normally owlets open their eyes upon reaching about nine days old.

Anyhow, meet “fuzz ball”. The image was taken yesterday afternoon around 4:30 a bit north of Duluth. If you would like to watch these owlets grow up, I will likely be able to track them through about Labor Day. Don’t forget I give away a free full version PDF copies of Do You Hoot? which tells the story of the owlets from two years ago.

Anyhow … Fuzz Ball the First!
(email subscribers … see the Fuzz Ball Movies! One | Two)

Let’s compare the apparent age and size to the Amity triplets. Photograph taken three years ago on the same day in May.