I am jealous of my friends who are hanging out with Snowy Owls, which have suddenly arrived in northern Minnesota. However, when your daughter and her family are willing to “self-isolate” in order to allow Molly and me to have a safe visit, birding should play second fiddle(and it did). I photographed this turkey during a few snow flurries this afternoon as the gobblers visited my daughter’s house. Notice how there is no snow on the ground here in southern Minnesota. Strange.

We head back north tomorrow, and I will be out searching for Snowy Owls.  Perhaps this turkey knows my family plans to have prime rib for Christmas dinner. Thus, we are safe!

The winter without snow continues including much warmer temperatures than normal. Here in northern MInnesota we have turned into a skater’s Mecca. Conditions are night last week were perfect for forming lake ice, and the world has turned out to skate for miles on end on glass smooth lakes. The lack of storms has slowed down the push of predators to road sides. In fact, many birds which would normally be long gone by now have hung around taking advantage of no snow, and ice free pockets on lakes (normally where streams flow into lakes). The Trumpeter Swans were enjoying some shallow water with available food this morning.