Approximately one hour prior to kickoff I found this Snowy Owl hunting in the Duluth area. I think I watched the better game. Snowy 1, Vole 0! The owl was actually perched on a grandstand lights power pole at a small outdoor stadium not used in the winter. I’ll take my location over the Atlanta stadium any day.
All posts by richardhoeg@gmail.com
Polar Vortex Northern Lights
The Polar Vortex is over! As I type out this post on Saturday morning it is a balmy 13F above zero (-10.5C)! Given there is no wind and the sun is shining, my ski will be heavenly a bit later this morning.
My own “last hurrah” was photographing the Aurora Borealis two nights ago. When my Northern Lights alarm awakened me at 12:30 am, a quick check of the technical numbers and cloud cover weather radar which revealed clear skies 20 miles to my north, by 12:45 am I was out the door and driving north. 37 miles later I arrived at a remote lake (Stewart Lake) and watched a nice display. The temperature was -17F as Lady Aurora danced across the sky for me including a small substorm. By 3:15 am I was home back in my nice warm bed. Here is a taste of what I watched.
Realizing many of you have never seen an ice road, I also took this photograph as the Aurora was calming down. I used a small flashlight to give about a one second burst of light to illuminate the scene. The structure on the right in the image is the dock at the boatlanding. I took my photos from terra firma only because the extra elevation made for a more interesting picture. I did walk quite a ways out onto the ice road checking out photo angles. 
Birding has not been a total bust in this cold weather. Over the past few days I have found lots of Pine Grosbeaks at a nearby old berry farm, and an immature red-tailed hawk which a Snowy Owl actually found for me (long story … thanks Snowy). The cold weather returns next weekend. The ice is forming rapidly on Lake Superior … here’s hoping trips to the Apostle Islands Ice Caves are in my near future (near solid Lake Superior ice).
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Arrowhead 135 Winter Ultra Marathon
Monday morning at 7 am, the Arrowhead 135 started in International Falls. It is now 11:30 am on Wednesday, and competitors (hike, bike, ski) are still out on the 135 mile course to Lake Vermilion. Since the start of the race it has never been above zero. Right now it is -28F, which does not include windchill. This is one of the hardest races in the world. Nature is unforgiving, and the wilderness trail only brings the racers out to a logging road a few times. Specialized equipment is required to start the race, including an extreme weather sleeping bag and gear. If a participant does not finish with all this winter gear, they are disqualified. I spent the last few days watching and photographing the race. My race photographs will appear early next winter in the Lake Country Journal.
Here are a few images which define the race … and oh yes … back to birding. I found a Snowy Owl hunting this morning. When the bird flew down to this perch, I knew the morning hunt was over. The perch was in the sun and protected from the wind (-28F and 20 mph wind made for a -59F windchill). I did not spend much time out of the car!
Arrowhead 135 Start
Checkpoint #1 (17 miles into the race)
Checkpoint #2 (70 miles into the race … arriving during a snow squall)
The Finish (snow / frost encrusted head … breathing device sticking out)
This morning’s Snowy Owl!