Heck, I’m thrilled! Some winters it is rare to see even one of there beautiful owls, and as folks know who follow my blog the Northern Hawk Owl is the “sparkbird” of this 12 year online effort. While most folks up here in the Northland drop everything and chase reports of Great Gray Owls, the NHO gets that kind of attention from me!

Anyhow it was a fun late morning yesterday when I watched this owl hunt for almost an hour. It is not worth asking me the location of this bird. It was not in Sax-Zim Bog, and the location will not be revealed. The Northern Hawk Owl would get inundated with visitors.

And the NHO Movie! (video link for email subscribers)

The Snowy Owls have arrived back in Minnesota! It took a while for them to make their grand entrance. Other areas throughout the North Central States, particularly Wisconsin along Lake Michigan were seeing the large white birds, but Snowy Owls anywhere in Minnesota within a few hour drive of my home have been a tough find. All of that changed yesterday, when I took a long drive and over the course of 24 hours saw not one, or two but three Snowy Owls! I should know from prior birding years our owls normally hold off till about mid December to make their grand appearance.

Of the three birds … only one Snowy Owl was cooperative in terms of posing for photographs. Here is that bird … photos increasingly close to sunset.

And one of the non cooperative birds … way up on a high tension power line sleeping away the afternoon (not unusual).