3 Days … 6 Unique Owl Individuals … 3 Species!

Year 11,

The past three days had quite the run in terms of finding owls … all the more amazing that the weather for the first two days were HORRIBLE (downpours and 40 mph wind gusts). However, these poor owls which normally never hunt much past sunrise for much of the year, must have owlets near by which mean they must hunt no matter the weather. There is zero reason for the the Great Gray Owls to be out hunting till 11:00 am in horrible downpours and winds.

MAKE certain you watch the video of the Great Gray Owl hunting. It was 11:00 am, almost six hours after sunrise which in itself is amazing, and then you add in the HORRIBLE weather … downpours and 40+ mph wind gusts. (video link of Great Gray Owl hunting for email subscribers)

And now here are some photographs of each of the six unique owls … three species.

Great Gray Owl … unique owl #1 (in the rain, but out of the wind)

Great Gray Owl … unique owl #2 (in the downpour and 40 mph wind gusts)

Barred Owl … unique owl #3 (video link for email subscribers)

Great Horned Owl … unique owl #4 (Momma)

Owlets … 63 days old!

Great Horned Owl … unique owl #5 (Owlet A)

Great Horned Owl … unique owl #6 (Owlet B)

Meet Mr. Moose!

Year 11

It is always nice when plans work! I put up a trailcam only a few days ago along US Forest Road #813 (do not drive … ignore Google Maps, or you will get stuck) near a pond. The trailcam has already photographed Mr. Moose (wet from munching on water plants in a nearby pond)!  Location of bird feeders … next to Lake County #2 (includes hiking information).

As a fyi, I had seen both Moose and Lynx tracks prior to putting up the trailcam. Best probability at seeing mammals will always be very close to sunrise or sunset.

Unexpected Pleasures on Park Point

Year 11

I drove down to Park Point (Minnesota Point) this morning leaving around 5:30 am. I almost did not head down to the Point for a “shorebird” walk on the beach because around 5:00 am when I looked outside at my house (800 yards above Lake Superior), there appeared to be low clouds, perhaps fog. Our weather has been so nasty I really wanted to bird the big lake, but not in cold fog. Like most mornings before I go birding I decided to check my weather map and live web cams.

My favorite weather app which is available on Android or Apple, is Weawow. I make a donation of a few dollars and look carefully at the hour by hour forecast, and the weather maps (both rain and wind / speed / direction). This weather app is very detailed, and does NOT have advertising or pop-ups. Regardless, the app seemed to indicate a trip to the big lake would work fine.

However, I always check the live Canal Park webcam before heading out. I look at the American flag on the display tug boat, sky conditions, and lake waves. Here is what the scene looked like at 5:08 am … a beautiful calm morning 15 minutes before sunrise. Game on!

My shorebird search was a bust, but the flowering fruit trees just off the main parking lot yielded a rare sight for northern Minnesota … a Red-Headed Woodpecker! This bird was definitely worth the price of admission!!! The bird seemed to be storing food, but the habitat on Park Point would not be my expectation in terms of red-head friendly.

The moral of the story for birding … do your research but then be willing to adjust and have fun!

Red-Head … the Movie! (video link for email subscribers)