All posts by richardhoeg@gmail.com

Northern Hawk Owls are so Yesterday!

Year 4

A friend wanted to go up to Sax-Zim Bog. He had heard about all the Northern Hawk Owls which normally is a rare bird. Looking at the advanced weather forecast I said Thursday! Although I knew today would be cold, it also was forecasted to have decent light and low winds. While sunny skies mean Great Gray Owls retreat into the heavy forest shortly after sunrise, Northern Hawk Owls do not care about light.

Thus, our plan was to arrive 20 minutes before sunup and look for owls, and ignore any hawk owls we saw. This plan worked perfectly and within a few minutes we have found two great grays, one of which was very cooperative in terms of hunting for us … catching two voles in the waning moments of the night. As expected, 20 minutes after sunrise the Great Gray said good-bye to us and retreated into the deep Bog.

We then shifted our efforts over to the hawk owls (we saw three unique individuals) and enjoyed their hunting efforts. However, one thing cool about Hawk Owls is they often perch on the highest tree in the vicinity. Without exception this always means the owl will get attacked by some local birds. Just set up shot and wait. Here are some of my efforts from today.

A Pileated Woodpecker … taking a break between attacking the owl

Pileated and Northern Hawk Owl

Great Gray before Sunrise

A few more Northern Hawk Owl Images

Great Gray at 200k!

Year 4
A very important part of wildlife photography … given the wilderness roads I travel, is a reliable car. I dare not get stuck or have breakdowns. I am often off the grid with the inability to phone for support. In the winter when on roads like the Tomahawk Trail (pictured on a different day), another car may not come by for hours, if not all day. My all wheel drive Subaru Outback has been my friend for the last 200K!
 
I found this Great Gray Owl about 2 miles before I hit 200K!

Yard Birds! Northern Shrike

Year 4

What are some exciting yard birds which have visited you? Today I added a cool new bird, a Northern Shrike! While working on my computer this afternoon I glanced up and saw the shrike!

My yard is very popular with songbirds due to the six bird feeders, and thus a predator like this Northern Shrike. To describe my yard … it is on the edge of a pine forest, across the road from Amity Creek, but also has an open area where I have tall grasses and a garden of perennials.

This photo taken through the window! Last winter I had a Barred Owl which hunted 5 yards from our living room window. For three weeks it would set up shop late every afternoon right above the bird feeders and await an unwary squirrel or vole. We learned we were not allowed to watch from the window seat in the living room (five yards away from the owl), but were permitted to watch the owl from our dining room window … ten yards away from the owl. These were the owl’s rules, not ours! 🙂

Finally, I am participating in Cornell’s Project Feeder Watch. Today was one of my count days. Thus I get to add a Northern Shrike!