All posts by richardhoeg@gmail.com

Tall Birds During a Time of Plenty

Year 12,

I have been birding the Canosia Wildlife Preserve and South Bog over the past few days. While I had hoped to find just fledged Northern Harriers, the birds that have appeared have been the “Tall Ones”! This Great Blue Heron likes to hang out on the beaver mound in the small lake on West Lizmore near the rookery. I have seen it two days in a row, and watched it for almost an hour each day.

Another fun haunt of mine is the Culver, Minnesota area, which I call the “south bog”. There is a nice mix of bog, boreal forest and farms, and it is closer to my home in Duluth than Sax-Zim. Here are three GSP Google Maps links:

  1. Where I turn off Highway #7 (Burnett Road intersection)
  2. The Culver Volunteer Volunteer Fire Department (in the middle of my birding drive)
  3. Where I turn around (Brookston Way / Eklund Way intersection)

Map of Birding Area (press or click upon to maximize)

Most of this birding drive is along dirt roads. I LOVE the farm at the end of my drive (where I turn around. This Sandhill Crane was standing on a hay mound at the farm. I also saw a Broad-Winged Hawk catch a snake at the Artichoke River (GPS Link).

S.D. National Grasslands Burrowing Owls

Year 12

One reason many people visit the National Grasslands near Pierre, S.D. is to see Burrowing Owls. If you are willing to skip your your normal dinner hour and bird the two to three hours before sundown, oh my will you see Burrowing Owls. While it is definitely possible to see these cute owls during the middle of the day, they really start to perform towards sunset. In late July the parent owls have young owlets to feed and they hunt before sundown. It is rather easy to find Burrowing Owls. Drive back roads and look for Prairie Dog mounds, and you will find Burrowing Owls. Prairie Dogs and Burrowing Owls live together, and the owls take over abandoned Prairie Dog burrows. One of my favorite drives is War Creek Road; however please realize I go faaaar off the beaten path …

The Burrowing Owls of the National Grasslands (video link for email subscribers)

I am pretty certain both of these images are “fly-bys” by a parent with food. It is time for these owlets to fledge. In neither instance did the parent owls land.

And here we have a bunch of upset youngsters! Food came, and it went away. You want supper you will fly!

And more pics …

The Movie!

National Grasslands Prairie Dog Towns … the Other Birds!

Year 12

Don’t look now, but lots of other birds other than just Burrowing Owls hang out near Prairie Dog towns like this Ferruginous Hawk. Apparently in the winter the number of raptors (not just shear numbers, but also in terms of unique species) that hunt the prairie dog towns is HUGE. This hawk was hunting miles and miles off US-83 on War Creek Road. If I can get a decent weather window this winter, I may have to return for “raptor fest”!

Ferruginous Hawk