Lester Amity Great Horned Owl Family

May 16, 2019Year 6MN North: Amity, MN North: Hartley Nature Centerrichardhoeg@gmail.com

All birding is special, but some days are MUCH more special.

Mr. and Mrs. Great Horned Owl would like to present “Junior” to the world. The happy couple started dating last Fall, and would often sing back and forth to each other … sometimes in my very own yard! Over the course of the winter the relationship grew stronger and the couple cemented the bond in early March!

This winter I often hiked or skied the area where I believed Les and Amy were hanging out. Occasionally I would get a quick glimpse of the owls at sunset. Yesterday evening at sunset I finally found “the tree”. The main clues were whitewash and feathers at the base of a white pine. A bit after sunrise this morning I found the nest. The names of these two parent owls are taken from the two rivers in the area … Les for the Lester River, and Amy for Amity Creek. I am thrilled! By yesterday evening given all my previous hikes (and skies) I was focusing my search upon an area 300×300 yards.

I have found and photographed other owls on their nests in my life, but I have such a personal connection with these birds. I can not begin to count how many times I heard this pair singing this winter … thus truly special for me. Obviously the owls knew I was visiting their section of the woods. Given all the crows and ravens in the area, the Mom does not stray far from Junior.

Mrs. Great Horned Owl (Amy) and Junior

Junior

Oh yes … I also found a Blackburnian Warbler in Hartley Park this morning. Normally, just finding and photographing this kind of warbler would make for a great day …

The Smelt are Running!

May 15, 2019Year 6MN North: Minnesota Pointrichardhoeg@gmail.com

We know! We know!

Find the fish which are spawning and you will find hungry birds. At sunrise (5:30 am) there were an amazing number of loons, cormorants, mergansers and gulls at the mouth of the Lester River on Lake Superior. By 6:00 am the show was over, but I just shifted my location and hiked out to the Superior Entry. In the distance via my binoculars I had spied hundred of terns feeding. I said to my self: “Self … more smelt!”

It took a three mile hike but once out to the Superior Entry these rather “uncommon” Common Mergansers put on quite the show for me. This couple was much more concerned about catching fish than worrying about a human. Please note I advanced on the mergansers from out of the sun, and then sat down on the sand. Eventually the birds made their way over to me. One needs to have patience to get photographs like these images, and also not be standing up. Birds immediately recognize you as “a human” when you are standing tall. I was less than ten yards from the mergansers.

Common Mergansers Fishing for Smelt

Permission to Surface, Captain?

Captain Merganser

Dive, Captain, Dive!

Down on the Farm Eastern Towhee

May 14, 2019Year 6MN South: Lanesboro Arearichardhoeg@gmail.com

Molly and I visited friends down on their farm in SE Minnesota. As we drove south winter was left behind, and eventually we discovered this rare thing called Spring! It is amazing what getting away from Lake Superior and its cold waters will accomplish. One treat for me over the weekend was finding an Eastern Towhee. I’ve only seen this type of bird once in my life and then it was the much less colorful female. My two videos document two of the different Towhee songs I heard.

In addition, after the Towhee images but before the videos in this post, you will find three Google Searches you may wish to bookmark on your computer or mobile device. In an earlier life when I worked in software I became a search expert. These three searches will let you explore birding news both in Minnesota, and America. Descriptions are next to each search query.