Friday Owl Night at the Movies!

Year 7

Before Netflix. Before Hulu … and even before Amazon Prime there was Friday Night at the Movies. Youngsters will not remember the days when the family gathered around the TV and watched the one movie available via commercial “over the air” television station. Here is Duluth, Minnesota in the early 1960’s we had two options … NBC and CBS.

Thus … back to a simpler time. Here are some “stills” of the actors and actresses … the Great Horned Owl Triplets.

And the promised movies!

The Triplets a bit before sunset yesterday evening (email subscriber video link)

Sunrise crow attack … Mom & Dad will save me! (email subscriber video link)

Okay … maximize this image and count the owls. How many can you find? Only Dad is missing. The answer is four!

Finally, a few other birds are returning to the Northland. Two days ago I saw my first Red-Winged Blackbirds at a neighborhood pond. However, there is still snow in the woods (not much).

Descent into Darkness … Dawn! Blepharospasm

Background

This post has nothing to do with birding, yet everything to do with birding. Readers who have known me for a period of time understand I have a rare vision disorder called Blepharospasm. In short my brain and eyelid muscles do not communicate properly. Last August I was forced to face the reality that I was becoming functionally blind. During a bicycle tour of the Norwegian Arctic, because of poor vision I crashed my bike and fractured some ribs. It was obvious to both my wife, Molly, and me that I needed help. I had been figuring out ways to deal with my deteriorating vision. I was out of “work arounds”.

This blog post gives everyone access to what was a very private diary I started during the very dark days of last year. In fact, in December I even Googled the terms Blepharospasm and suicide. While I don’t believe I was serious about taking my own life, I did want to learn how others dealt with the deep depression of vision loss. Thankfully, my condition was eventually correctly diagnosed and I am now receiving treatment which has returned my vision. For the rest of my life I will receive Botox injections on a periodic basis in my eyelid muscles. This effectively blocks the bad nerve miscommunication and allows me to keep my eyes open. I am able to see the wonder of nature! Thus, this blog post is about birding.

After a period of time, I decided to first give my children and their spouses the ability to read my diary. Once I knew I would survive this journey, I decided I wanted to make my diary public in the hope that others who have Blepharospasm will be comforted by my experience and know they are not alone.

Thus … my diary (downloadable PDF) … public for the first time.

Descent into Darkness … Dawn!
One man’s journey through vision loss & recovery

Lake Superior at the mouth of the Lester River … Before Dawn One Winter Morning
(800 yards from my house)

Great Horned Owl Update … Triplets!

Year 7

It is amazing how three such big owlets are able to hide. However, the nest is located high up in a white pine, and my views are  less than optimal. In addition, for the past four days it has been cold. The temperature this morning is 25F, which is the warmest by far we’ve had in days. The owls hunker down and try to keep warm. Winds have also been strong which gives a chill factor each day around zero.

However, when the sun pops out I often make the hike over to the nest. Over the past three days the owls have entered the “branching” phase of their life. While they are still ten days away from short hopping flights, the two older chicks are now willing to walk the branches near the nest (not very far). The Great Horned Owl chicks are about three feet away from the nest in this photograph.

Remember I said it has been cold. In the first image Mom is hanging out with one of her youngsters … a snow squall has just blown through the area. In the second image, two of the three chicks are just trying to stay warm.

My final images were taken during the great “murder” of crows which happened yesterday morning.  The first photo is of the Mom … the second image is the Dad. Both were enjoying some early morning sun until …

The look Mom Great Horned Owl gave me, a human, when 50+ crows are dive bombing your perch. What, me worry?

Shortly after photograph, Dad Great Horned Owl (pictured below) came flying to the rescue of Mom (this bird). The two parent owls then would fly underneath the forest canopy and decoy the crows away from the nest. The crows would never fly under the forest canopy as that is a suicidal move for them. These owls eat lots of crow. It was a very noisy morning. Try to imagine 50+ crows cawing, and even though it was long after sunrise, the two owls were hooting back and forth.

I have decided after two years of watching Momma and Poppa Owl, they need names. As they live and hunt in an area bounded by the Lester River and Amity Creek … Meet Les and Amy … shortened versions of the names of the rivers.

It’s about 7:30 am … time to hike over and wish my owls Good Morning!