Category Archives: Year 8

Snowy Owl Success

Year 8

Late yesterday afternoon I looked outside and noticed my local trees were looking quite windblown. I had planned on looking for Great Gray Owls just before sunset, but any bird which hunts by hearing would find the conditions difficult. Wind whistling through the trees is noisy which makes hearing voles running beneath the surface of the snow almost impossible. Great Grays during windy conditions often do not hunt at all … hungry or not. Expending energy with little chance of success is dumb, and drains life energy.

Thankfully Snowy Owls hunt by sight, and as long as the wind is not too strong it is possible to find them on the tops of tall trees, power poles and light poles. After an hour of searching I found this immature male a bit before sundown.

Knocking Signs of Spring

Year 8

This male Pileated Woodpecker was defining his territory yesterday afternoon. There are three really good “hollow log sounding board” trees in my yard. Every woodpecker for miles around knows those specific trees. My local woodpeckers are definitely starting to think about love! A lot of knocking going on …

50 Degrees Warmer! Happy Owl.

Year 8

One week ago today I blogged and included a photograph of the male Great Horned Owl all frost encrusted at -20F. My local owls have definitely nested, and now it is a waiting game till late March or early April. This morning at 9 am it was 30F (50 degrees warmer). The male Great Horned Owl may normally be found in a white pine 10 yards from the nesting tree with a clear view of his mate. He looks much more comfortable given the warmer weather. I know I like the warm sun.

Winter birding will now get much more difficult. Other owls will start to nest within the next few weeks (Barred, Great Gray, Long-Eared, etc). Bald Eagles are starting to migrate in decent numbers along the North Shore of Lake Superior. Pine and Evening Grosbeaks will move north as well within a short period of time. I actually sat outside on our deck for an hour reading yesterday afternoon for the first time since early November. The afternoon temperature reached 40F!