All posts by richardhoeg@gmail.com

Amity Owls!

Year 7,

My Great Horned Owls are back and on their nest! Over the past few months I have heard their love songs, but this afternoon I confirmed they are launching a new family. Last Spring I had a fantastic time watching Ma & Pa Great Horned Owls raise their twins. According to the Cornell School of Ornithology the first young should hatch in about one month, or about the 10th of March.

You might ask why any self-respecting owl would nest in the middle of the frigid Minnesota winter? The answer is quite logical … it’s all about prey. As the owlets grow and increase their food demands, other animals will be having their young (squirrels, mice, rabbits, crows, etc). Thus, there will lots of food for the parents available at nature’s supermarket. Finally, once the young are fledged there will be lots of new young prey upon which these young owls may practice their hunting before winter returns to the Northland.

Great Horned Owl on its Nest

Before I visited my own owls, I made a quick trip up to Sax-Zim Bog. The hoar frost was drop dead gorgeous this morning. Unfortunately I could not find a candidate bird to sit at close range for a photoshoot. This image was taken at quite a distance.

Northern Hawk Owl in a Hoar Frost Flocked Tree

Incidentally I was not dedicated to taking a picture of an owl with the hoar frost. I actually took a two mile hike in the woods … not a single Gray Jay, Crossbill or made their presence known. It was amazingly quiet.

Finally, yesterday morning before the sun came out from behind the clouds, I found this Great Gray Owl getting ready for its daily nap.

Great Gray Owl

Take-Off at Sunset!

Year 7

Take-Off of at sunset of Snowy Flight #007 … granted a license to kill!

I was with a number of friends this evening. Everyone else was positioned in a traditional photographer location with the sun at their backs and directly upon the Snowy Owl. However, having observed “Lady” over the course of many “flights”, I was convinced I knew where she would go next. Thus, I slogged through deep snow to position myself with the sun partially in my face and where I thought she would fly next. Lady did not disappoint and the image taken above resulted. By the time I reacted to her flight directly at me, this is what I saw as she flew past.  Do not mess with Lady; she has a license to kill!

Northern Hawk Owl on the Hunt

Year 7

I wasn’t planning on Bogging it today, but my buddy Jeff M. wanted to go owling. How could I resist? By 6:15 am I was out the door and “bog bound”. Our morning was pretty slow, but after a late breakfast / early lunch we struck gold. We found a Northern Hawk Owl within yards of where I had seen it a few days previously. Owls are like fishermen; in the winter if they find a good hunting spot it is amazing how often they return to hunt from the same exact trees.

Although there was a decent snow flurry in progress, the owl was kind enough to land with a bunch of tamarack pines as a backdrop (white skies are boring). Thus, I decided it was worth slogging through the deep snow in an attempt to get some good images. I think my friend Jeff thought I was crazy because at times I had to wade through snow up to my mid thigh.

Eventually I approached close enough to the owl that I was comfortable some great photography would entail, but even more importantly I would not flush or stop the owl from hunting. I was correct on all accounts. My method for approaching the owl was to slowly walk about five yards forward … stop and wait for a few minutes … and then repeat many times. My goal was to appear harmless, which was successful. Take a look at the photograph taken immediately below, which represented my closest approach to the Northern Hawk Owl (about 30 yards). Here is a pic of me in action (photo taken by Jeff). Look for the small bird in the tree towards the center top of the image (may need to click / press upon to view at a larger resolution).

Just importantly I never flushed the owl. This photograph is the last the image I took. The owl is totally ignoring me as it hunts for mice and voles. When I left this bird, I actually backed up very slowly … once again about five yards at a time with multiple pauses. Eventually I turned and retraced my steps through the snow.

Here are the photographs I captured. Pretty cool?! A Northern Hawk Owl is about the size of raven.