Category Archives: Year 7

Good bye, Snow!

Year 7

It was -6F a bit inland from Lake Superior this morning a touch after sunrise. I was birding the Boreal Forest, but did not find much. I didn’t mind as the scenery including this farm was gorgeous. It is now 28F at 2:20 pm, and will perhaps reach 50F tomorrow. Good bye, snow!

The other excitement of the day was being called out to do a “Bald Eagle Rescue”. Apparently our nation’s bird had become entangled in some kind of net. Thankfully, the eagle managed to free itself before I arrived on scene, and thus I was not pressed into service. That is a good ending when the bird frees itself, as although I have hand captured two Snowy Owls in my life, both of those owls were not in the best of shape (i.e. easier to handle). I was a bit worried about trying to free a healthy eagle.

You may ask, what does one bring to an eagle rescue? Here is my answer based upon items in my home and garage:

  1. Raptor gloves (insures the bird can not sink their talons into your hands and arms)
  2. Various wire cutters and pliers to cut the bird free
  3. A large blanket (come up from behind to subdue the bird)
  4. A very large moving blanket (same as above)

One always comes up from behind a raptor as talons can not move backwards. If you would like to read about one of my prior rescue escapades, here is my rescue of Silver. (a Snowy Owl)

Northern vs Southern Owls!

Year 7

Yesterday I posted an image of a male Great Horned Owl. This owl lives down in the NW suburbs of the Twin Cities. As noted it dumbfounded me by perching right out in the open at 10:30 in the morning.

Today I am posting a photo of my northern friend which lives in the Duluth area … 180 miles to the north of my southern owl. I visited him at 3:30 this afternoon, and even though I had a pretty good idea where to look due to prior visits, it took me over 10 minutes of scanning with my binoculars to find said owl. As you can see, Mr. Great Horned Owl is pretty bored with me. I hung around for ten minutes once I found him, and he never once looked directly at me! Apparently my Norwegian stocking cap does not look like a squirrel.

I will repost yesterday’s image. While it could be that my southern owl was in direct sunlight while my northern bird was in heavy shade, but “sunshine bird” appears to be much lighter in color. Given the number of pine trees in the Twin Cities area is dramatically fewer than up north here in Duluth, this could be “natural selection” in terms of better camouflage against all the deciduous trees. Interesting to speculate. Remember, the male does all the hunting for the family until the young are quite large. Better camouflage would be an asset.

Signs of Spring?

Year 7

Although there is still lots of snow on the ground, the temperature reached the mid 40’s here in Duluth yesterday. While I know there are still snowstorms in our future, the birds are beginning to get into spring patterns. Lending an ear while outside will result in hearing woodpeckers drilling to announce their territory, and chickadees are now giving their mating call. In fact, Hawk Ridge started their annual spring hawk watch yesterday.

Here on Amity Creek I now have Slate-Colored Juncos and American Goldfinches visiting my feeders (they have been absent since late December). Along with Bald Eagles, these birds are our early migrants. Over at Sax-Zim Bog, there have been sightings of Snow Buntings winging their way back to Arctic. Via my “Ask the Outdoorsman / Naturalist” link (top menubar), Jeannette L. asks whether the hawk seen by her neighbor could have been a Cooper’s Hawk. The answer is “yes”. It helps that I know Jeannette lives over in NW Wisconsin. Spring comes almost three weeks earlier in that area compared to the boreal forest in NE Minnesota.

NW Wisconsin includes mixed deciduous forest while NE Minnesota is an evergreen pine forest. In addition, here along the North Shore of Lake Superior and inland, winds out of the south often come across the cold waters of Lake Superior (not true in NW Wisconsin). Once the snows have melted in Wisconsin I often bird the grasslands along Wisconsin Hwy 13. I know from personal experience that I will see returning birds in this area long before my fine feathered friends show up near my house. Check out my “Wisconsin Wetlands” birding locations to learn more. Perhaps you’ll see my out and about!

In addition to paying attention to the different kinds of habitat up here in the Northland, I spent some fun time down south in the Minneapolis area over the weekend. Yesterday morning I went hiking at dawn, and the birdsong was amazing! My walks were in the NW suburbs which are 180 miles south of my house. The temperature differential during the winter is often over 20 degrees, and one is definitely out of the Boreal Forest.

As I started my walk, I enjoyed hearing many, many cardinals singing to greet the sun. This particular individual posed in a tree full of buds.

After enjoying the cardinals, I hiked over to the Great Horned Owl nest which I discovered one month ago. The male Great Horned Owl was out enjoying the sun. I was actually dumbfounded to find him out in the wide open (think crows). However, apparently we all like the first warmth that heralds a new spring.