Owlets!

Year 8
I’m a God Poppa to my owls again!!!
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For the third year in a row I have found the Lester / Amity Great Horned Owl nest, and yesterday evening I was convinced I saw downy tail feathers. With today’s warmer weather I did a return hike and jackpot … one of the owlets was out enjoying what all Duluthians are enjoying … warmth and sun.
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I don’t normally “mark up” photographs, but the owlet is pretty easy to miss otherwise. I suspect the first owlet may have been born on my birthday last week. The youngsters spend about 7 days under the mom before venturing outside.
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The female has been on the nest non-stop since February 15th. She does all the incubating and fledging. The male does all the hunting at this point. The Mom still has about a 2-3 weeks to go before she will leave the nest for the first time … when both parents will need to hunt in order to feed the hungry family. to hunt to feed a hungry family.
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This year’s nest is so very hard to see, but once the owlets start walking on the branches, I should get some decent views.

Yesterday evening … tail feathers that look “downy”

Return visit this morning!

Snowstorm Owl

Year 8
This post is dedicated to “all the Moms” out there. We are experiencing a late season snowstorm up here in NE Minnesota. I still decided to hike over and visit my local Great Horned Owls. I was hoping to photograph a “drenched male”, but he decided the perch he is on over 90% of the time is horrible in this weather. He had retreated somewhere to a more protected location. Mom, however, has no choice but to stay on the nest.
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All the dots on the image are snowflakes. The owlets may have been born, but no way they would be out in this weather.

Cavity Nesters Part 2: Eastern Screech Owl!

Year 8

Big thanks to Peter, Deb and Tammy for their assistance in helping me find my lifer down in the Twin Cities today … a sleeping Eastern Screech Owl. These owls do not live in the Boreal Forest. Thus, seeing one in Duluth would never be possible. Like yesterday’s wood duck, these owls use cavities for nesting. Over the past two weeks I have also learned about one of their preferred habitats; they very much like nesting next to sunny, dry river banks with big old mature trees. While I never saw a Screech Owl last weekend in Milwaukee, my evening hike let me listen to a number of these birds calling after sunset.

Just a fyi … this is the way to photograph a sleeping owl during the day. While eyes would be nice, do not yell or take other actions to wake up the bird. One should just enjoy the experience, and come back around sunset if you want to see an active owl.