All posts by richardhoeg@gmail.com

Looning … and other fine stories! (videos)

Year 4

Ah … summer in the Northwoods. Molly and I are spending quality time at our small Northstar Lake cabin. Our lake is far enough north that the small stream that empties from Northstar actually starts the water on its journey to Hudson’s Bay!

After dinner last night I asked my wife if she wanted to go birding with me. Normally the answer to this question is always “no”, but when birding actually meant “looning” I received an enthusiastic “yes” (read Molly’s account of looning). A short boat ride in our ancient smaller fishing boat (no ski boat for this guy) brought us within 100 yards of a pair of Loons and their chicks. Up here near the Minnesota Canadian border loon chicks have just hatched. I cut the engine and we started our slow drift towards the birds. Making certain never to stand up given a higher profile might disturb the loons, I worked our boat towards the loons using a canoe paddle. We stopped 25 yards away from the family, and thus began a delightful 1/2 hour with the Loons of Northstar Lake. Our slow approach had not frightened the loon family, and they proceeded with the evening fish and feed. At times the male loon, which was doing the hunting / fishing, would surface within a few yards of our boat. It would rest on the surface for 20 seconds and then dive again.

We could also hear the chicks and Mom softly communicating with one another. Every few minutes we would suddenly see air bubbles and a “V” wake working it’s way towards the Mom and chicks. The dad would then pop to the surface and deliver small minnows for the chick’s supper.

Twas truly a magic evening. We did not wish to overstay our welcome. Grabbing the canoe paddle I worked our way a bit more distant from the birds … started the outboard … and slowly started back to the cabin.

I hope you enjoy these photographs and videos of the Common Loon Family of Northstar Lake!

Feeding the Chicks

Mom Preening

Hitching a Ride

Great Gray Owl Chicks (video!)

Year 4

The morning dawned dark and dreary, in short a great day to go owling. While we humans love bright sunny blue sky days, you will almost never find owls out during daylight hours given those weather conditions. Thus, around 6 am I drove up to Sax Zim Bog in the hope I might find some Great Gray Owls hunting into the daylight hours. Fifteen minutes into my search I hit paydirt and found a mature great gray owl.

Normally, finding one owl would be considered a great day of birding, but the day would soon get phenomenally better. After five minutes of watching the adult Great Gray Owl it flew deeper into the forest. I thought I could still see the owl, thus I got out of the car with my binoculars which is when I heard the first “screech”. My heart pumped with excitement, and after a short hike along the road, I found not one, but two Great Gray Owl chicks which were begging for breakfast. These two juveniles proceeding to screech and call for Mom (or Dad) for almost one hour … flitting from one tree to another.

Finally I decided the hundreds of mosquito bights I had endured to watch and take photographs were enough, and I got back in my car and drove out the remote direct road back towards civilization. A few miles down the road I discovered a couple who were out birding. I stopped and asked if they would like a real treat, as seeing Great Gray Owl chicks in the forest might be a once in a lifetime event. Their answer was a quick yes, and I led them back down the road where we refound the young owls. This couple was from northern Germany, which made sharing the experience with them even more special. It was fun to show these beautiful birds to some folks who had flown from 1/2 way around the world to bird Sax-Zim Bog.

I hope you enjoy my photographs and video.

The Great Gray Owl Twins

Screaming at Mom (or Dad): Feed Me!!!

Mom (or Dad) was Perfectly Willing to Ignore the Summons!

Another Tree in which to Hang Out

The Stare

Why Did the Upland Sandpiper Cross the Road?

Year 4

Why … to see the Bobolink! I know, pretty bad, but it was a good days birding two days ago over at the Wisconsin Grasslands along Wisconsin #13 in the Cloverland area. Many of the birds have recently hatched young, which means the parents need to spend a significantly increased amount of time hunting for food. This in turn, makes the birds easier to find and photograph.

This scenario resulted in my finding a relatively rare group of about eight Upland Sandpipers. One hour after sunrise two families of sandpipers, including chicks, were feeding along the side of Wisconsin #13 between Windy and Jack Pine Roads. These birds have seen their numbers decrease over the years due to both hunting and habitat loss (grasslands).

First … my Upland Sandpipers and the Bobolinks

A Cedar Waxwing already finding some berries.