I hear the squirrels are numerous, big and tasty! Photo taken from the comfort of my living room with the fireplace warming the house. This Barred Owl stayed all day and was only 20 feet away from me at the time I snapped this photograph. When the temperature is -24F outside each morning, this is the way to go birding! (glass of wine in hand … Chardonnay of course).
Category Archives: Year 8
Twenty Below Birding! (Barred Owl)
Well actually -23F, but the alliteration sounds better on just the plain word “twenty”. Anyhow at 7:45 am this morning I was filling my own bird feeders (all eight of them), and noticed as I moved off a few feet that the chickadees seemed upset. I looked up and realized my feeders had another visitor, a Barred Owl! I could not have been more than six feet away from the owl at this time. The Barred Owl has now flown around our yard a bit, but is presently back to the same exact perch right above one of the feeders where I first saw the bird … the first image shown … ten yards from our living room window!
First view … and the owl is now back two hours later at 9:45 am in the same exact spot.
More views of the new “Amity Owl”! It flew around the yard a bit as the Chickadees chased it from perch to perch.
Photo taken by my wife, Molly, with her iPhone!
Arctic Riviera Birding – Part 2 (Snowys and Goldeneyes)
At 2:30 pm yesterday afternoon the mercury rose to -4F (-19F chill factor). Thus, once again it was time for Arctic Riviera. I took the same approach as for Part 1, and focused upon true “snow birds”. As a write this blog post the following morning, it is now -25F (air temperature). Thus, a good time for writing, not birding.
My first stop was a search for Snowy Owls in Superior. I wondered if the cold weather would mean these owls, which are known for hunting during daylight hours, would in fact be out searching for a bite to eat. For whatever reasons, I found two Snowy Owls, and given their territorial winter hangouts, different birds from yesterday. Here is the immature male I found enjoying some sunshine in a true winter environment.
However, my goal yesterday afternoon was to enjoy some Goldeneyes. Now that the harbor, and much of Lake Superior is iced over, I felt the Duluth Ship Canal (Canal Park) would be one a the few nearby locations with open water due to its faster currents. I was not disappointed, but even with a few more days of this cold, the canal will freeze.
Actually I just pulled up the “live feed” from the Duluth Harbor Cam, and in fact the Canal is in fact now frozen. Thus, my birding opportunity from yesterday afternoon (Goldeneyes) is now kaput.
I arrived at Canal Park in the late afternoon. I knew the sun would be pointed down the Canal on any birds I might find. In addition, the low angle of the sun might allow me to get closer to the Goldeneyes which tend to spook very easily. I suspect the “eyes” were eating zebra mussels which grown on the sides of the canal. I hope you enjoy my images of the Goldeneyes. I consider them one of the more beautiful ducks in this world. Now I need to find some wintering Long Tailed Ducks!
