Category Archives: Year 7

Owl Trifecta: Boreal, Snowy & Northern Hawk Owl

Year 7,

I decided I needed to go over to Sax-Zim Bog and see the famous “Admiral Road Boreal Owl”. My hope was by visiting on a Tuesday afternoon the number of birders would be at an acceptable level. Thankfully it was only me and about 15 other folks. Apparently the weekend was crazy. The good news is everyone was being very quiet and allow the owl to hunt. This small owl shows up at the Admiral Road feeders about 2:00 pm in the afternoon when the spruce trees provide good shade, which allows the light sensitive owl to hunt. The feeders attract lots of mice and voles, and this owl is very much enjoying its visit to northern Minnesota … easy food.

Boreal Owl (video link for email subscribers)

On the way home, Greg G. and I enjoyed a private viewing experience with this beautiful Northern Hawk Owl.

Upon getting home, I dropped off Greg, and never even got out of my own car. It was off to Superior for evening Snowy Owls … my third owl species of the day.

Lady Showing Interest in a small dog.

I actually broke the “golden rule” of owling yesterday afternoon. Normally I am very, very quiet around owls, but when I while watching “Lady” in a quiet neighborhood, I realized she was quite interested in a small dog. While most owls are not capable of catching prey the size of a small dog, Snowies are not “most owls”. Anyhow I yelled over to the owner who was about to leave her dog out in the back yard and suggested that might not be a good idea.

Finally … the prior evening I had fun watching a different Snowy with Jeannette L.

Northland Return!

Year 7,

The Northland welcomed me home with a burst of snow. I welcomed the white stuff which made the trees nicely flocked. The owls even welcomed me back and during our short stay at my daughter’s house each morning I heard a pair of Great Horned Owls hooting their love song (these owls will nest within the next week or two). I accepted the owl’s call, and found them the second morning ten minutes before sunrise (off trail hike through deep snow required). I also found a flock of cardinals, but try as I might … they refused to give me a classic pose (building in the background).

Great Horned Owl just before Sunrise

Northern Cardinal

Finally, here is a “repost” from the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog, which is the wilderness area where I volunteer.  While the words are not my own, I 100% agree with the message. While we welcome all the visits to the Northland, it is important not to “overlove’ our birds.

The Sax-Zim Bog is home to 5 species of nesting owl, but our most recent visitor is not among them! This Boreal Owl has recently been seen frequenting the Admiral Road Feeding Station. This bird, as well as the Barred Owl at Winterberry Bog, have drawn the attention of a number of visitors lately and that number will only go up this coming weekend. Here are a couple of tips for viewing owls, so we can avoid unduly stressing them as they hunt at a difficult time of year:

1) Keep noise levels low. All owls, especially Boreal Owls and Northern Saw-whet Owls, are auditory predators that rely on their ears to find prey under the snow. Too much noise will disrupt their hunting success. A study by Mason et al. 2016 showed that for every decibel increase in sound, Northern Saw-whet Owls hunting success decreased 8%.

2) Keep a respectful distance. Owls have a number of signs to show us they are being disturbed, especially through their posture and behavior. The owl in the photo is rousing (ruffling its feathers). This behavior, plus relaxed eyelids, lets us know that the bird is relaxed. Signs of distress include wide open eyes, compressed head feathers, and opened bill or bill clacking. If you notice an owl showing these behaviors, take a step or two back. Spotting scopes are a great way to view birds from a distance. If you are willing, set up your scope and encourage others to view the bird from a distance.

3) The welfare and safety of all wildlife comes first, and our photos or videos come second. Every time. Considering the location of this bird, we as observers should also consider our safety, as Admiral Road is a well traveled road. Let’s try and be good neighbors to those folks living in the Bog, as well as the birds.

If you are interested in learning more about safe owl or wildlife observation, we have information on our website at the bottom of the Birding the Bog tab. Also, here are a couple of other great resources to get you started on interpreting owl behaviors:

  • https://saxzim.org/birding-the-bog/
  • https://www.internationalowlcenter.org/respectful_observation.html
  • https://artusobirds.blogspot.com/2014/12/signs-of-stress-in-owls.html

Ask the Outdoorsman!

Background, Year 7

Welcome to a new feature of my blog … “Ask the Outdoorsman!”

Last fall I held a virtual seminar, which I may still repeat, but I have decided to try something different. Quite simply, ask me a question using the form given at the end of this post. Next week I will answer all questions. You will only be identified by your first name and the initial of your last name.

Remember, as my favorite college professor often stated: “The only dumb question is the unasked question!”

There are few ground rules for this experiement:

  1. Don’t ask for locations of sensitive birds
  2. The region I know best is NE Minnesota and NW Wisconsin
  3. Questions need not only be about birding. Check my “About Rich” section of this blog to learn more about my background, but my life experiences range from taking self-supported bicycle tours totalling over 10,000 miles riden around the world, to chasing the Northern Lights in Minnesota and the Norwegian Arctic.
  4. I do not pretend to be an expert, but I am knowledgeable.

I will close questions in a few days and note same by editing this blog post. The resulting post with the Q and A will then appear in the near future depending upon the number of questions / work required on my part.

Use the form given immediately below the photograph of me. Obviously a web site is NOT required, but if you have one it is fun for me to learn about all of you … my readers.