A Day for the Owls!

Year 12,

After a day and a half of fierce winds gusting of 45 mph, this morning dawned bright and calm (albeit cold at -9F). My comment is make certain you have a good weather app, and an app which is configurable to show you the hour by hour forecast as provided by the US Weather Service. I tend to focus upon cloud cover percentages, and wind speeds (basic and top gusts).

Thus, I knew the morning would be good in terms of finding my Northern Hawk Owl. After the poor weather it should be hungry (hunting was difficult) and willing to use perches out in the open (calm winds warmed by the sun). I met with success!

When the clouds started to roll in late this morning I headed home. However, my great day of birding was not over. Taking a break from the computer I walked out to our living room to read a book, but I became very distracted. A Barred Owl was only 25 years away from our window hunting squirrels underneath my feeders! Enjoy!

(video link for email subscribers)

My weather app, available for iPhone or Android is named Weawow.

Northern Hawk Owl! (1st of this winter)

Year 12

Heck, I’m thrilled! Some winters it is rare to see even one of there beautiful owls, and as folks know who follow my blog the Northern Hawk Owl is the “sparkbird” of this 12 year online effort. While most folks up here in the Northland drop everything and chase reports of Great Gray Owls, the NHO gets that kind of attention from me!

Anyhow it was a fun late morning yesterday when I watched this owl hunt for almost an hour. It is not worth asking me the location of this bird. It was not in Sax-Zim Bog, and the location will not be revealed. The Northern Hawk Owl would get inundated with visitors.

And the NHO Movie! (video link for email subscribers)

Polka Power Bull Moose

Year 12,

I normally never listen to music or the radio while out birding, as I find it distracts me from finding my feathered friends, but on Saturday mornings I make an exception … because on KDAL Radio out of Duluth starting at 6 am for two hours, it’s the FunTime Polka Party! Imagine if you may this scenario … streaking through the pre-dawn darkness in your car while Hoop Dee Doo from Frankie Yankovic fills the Northland’s frigid winter stillness (video link for blog subscribers). One may also listen online.

Such was the case the last two Saturdays including when I saw this young bull moose in Sax-Zim Bog about 1/2 mile east of the highway 7 / 133 intersection on 133 … foraging south of the road in the recently logged area. Towards sunset yesterday evening I good friend of mine saw the moose in the same region.

The young bull moose (antlers already broken off)

And if you want the full, immersive experience, I pulled over in my car while on the way up to Greenwood one week ago … Polka Power Birding (and Moosing)(video link for blog email subscribers)