As I noted in yesterday’s post, the south wind was bringing Bald Eagles north, and had the prospects of encouraging Snowy Owls to head back up to the Arctic. It is a time of changeovers. I was able to find one Snowy Owl yesterday afternoon … I had been watching four. Enjoy these final (?) images of this winter’s Snowy Owls. (see Snowy Owl flight maps from Project Snowstorm)
Category Archives: Year 8
Bald Eagle Migration Day … Change in the Wind
Near the end of Mary Poppins – when the blue bird of happiness a-wing -there comes a shift in wind direction. This was important because Mary Poppins had agreed to stay only until the wind changes. With the weathervane’s spin, it is time to leave.
Birding is a bit like the Mary Poppins movie. This morning the winds blew strongly out of the south for one of the first times this late winter. When I went out birding this morning I saw numerous bald eagles migrating north on the south wind. This evening I will drive over to Superior, Wisconsin in search of Snowy Owls. The same strong winds which brings Bald Eagles back to the Northland, will drive the Snowys up to the Arctic. Today is a changeover day.
Bald Eagle taking off in the Canosia Wildlife Area.
The Evening Hoot! (Great Horned Owls)
Where was everyone this past Friday night at 9:30 pm … long after sundown? I was out in the middle of the forest recording “the evening hoot”. The pics in the video swap back and forth based upon which owl is singing (video is 1.5 minutes long) … no pesky crows at sunrise in this recording … just the silence of the forest night.
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The photographs of the owls are the “exact owls” that are hooting. I have been fortunate enough to watch this Great Horned Owl couple raise a family for three years running. The Mom has been on the nest since the second week of February, and will not leave the nest even for one second till about the first week in April. She does all the incubating and feeding (the male brings the food to the nest … he does all the hunting for the family till early April).
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The biggest surprise while recording this file was being bombarded by a decapitated rabbit’s head. Originally the male was about 200 yards distant, and then it flew to the nest tree directly above where I was standing with supper for his mate. She quickly started eating and I about jumped 100 feet high when I got bombed. It was not expected a rabbit’s head to almost hit me, and the sound of it hitting the ground right next to me was loud in what was a quiet forest.
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The video / audio file is 1.5 minutes in duration. Here are the two actors / hooters! (video / audio link for email subscribers. (movie directly follow the two images)
The Evening Hoot … The Movie!