White-Winged Crossbills!

Year 8

Today has been a perfect birding day, and I intend to go back out in the woods before sunset. Why perfect? White-Winged Crossbills in the Bog. Normally I see these cute birds as they fly quickly overhead against a drab sky, but today fair skies returned after our winter storm. Winds had gusted over 40 mph each of the past two days … not good for friend or fowl. Thus, this morning was a nice return to the woods.

White-Winged Crossbills (Cornell Ornithology School Link) have a unique hooked beak which allows them to pry open pine cones to get at seeds which are impossible for other birds to access. If there is an ample supply of cones in the forest, these birds will nest and raise young in the middle of winter! Finally, they are a “Christmas bird” in terms of color!

I will have more posts about today’s birding, but the crossbills deserved their own mention. However, birding is perfect when …

  • You watch a Great Gray Owl shortly after sunrise
  • Two different chickadees land at separate times on your Norwegian flag stocking cap as you are watching both Pine Grosbeaks and Gray Jays.
  • The Holiday gas station even has a small flock of Pine Grosbeaks eating in a small fruit tree (seen as I gassed up the car)
  • Sunshine and light winds after 2+ days of a winter storm (I had cabin fever)

Christmas Bird Greetings!

Background, Year 8

I know many of you are busy sending Christmas greetings to friends and family. Here are three images you have my full permission to enclose, print and/or edit for your Christmas 2021 communications. The easiest way to download any or all of these images is:

  • From a personal computer
  • Right click upon the image
  • Download

If you would like a higher resolution version of the same images, open my Google Drive and download any of the files.

Snowy Owl Christmas Greetings 2021 Number 1

Snowy Owl Christmas Greetings 2021 Number 2

Bohemian Waxwings Christmas Greetings 2021

Bog Birding! (Great Gray Owl and more …)

Year 1, ,

What a great way to start a fantastic day! I watched by myself this Great Gray Owl hunt right at sunrise yesterday morning. Our fun ended about twenty minutes later when a Bald Eagle arrived on the scene … scaring the owl into the deep woods. My day only got better and better.

My next stop was the Welcome Center for some training and birding. I needed a refresher on procedures and the locations of all our materials at the Center. My first attempt at volunteering was snowed out about one week ago. I then proceeded to hike Gray Jay Way. While I did not find my desired Boreal Chickadees, I saw Evening Grosbeaks, Gray Jays (of course), Redpolls, and this female Pine Grosbeak (and even more bird species). The weather was glorious. The temperature hovered around freezing, and nary a breath of wind stirred in the woods as the bright sun shone down of the beautiful white snowscape.

I took one more hike at the South Logging Trail hoping I might find a Northern Hawk Owl back away from McDavitt Road, but no luck. On my way out of the Bog I stopped at Winterberry Bog to do some volunteering and check to see if the Ermine was enjoying the deer carcass (not yesterday afternoon).

Rather than going directly home, given the temperature was approaching 40F (crazy warm), and there still was not an ounce of wind, I drove straight to Superior. My hope was the non existent wind and warm weather would result in my finding a Snowy Owl out long before sunset … enjoying the nice conditions. I was not disappointed!

When you have an itch on top of your head!

The claw!

Just hanging out … being weird … or a normal Snowy Owl! 

Finally, if you are still with me, and you are worried about rising food prices … particularly the cost of your holiday Turkey. I know where you may find a wild bird!

Some commentary … while it is true that you may run into crowds at some of the more popular locations (Hwy 7, Admiral Road, etc) while trying to find the Gray Ghost of the Forest (Great Gray Owl), Sax-Zim Bog is huge. I rarely saw other people yesterday except at the Welcome Center and Winterberry Bog. My private time with the owl resulted because I invested the time and effort to find a bird in the less popular locations. One may easily enjoy peace and solitude in the Bog.