Wind Blown Snowy Owl!

Year 7

For the past few days it has been cold and windy, very windy. My successes at finding owls, particularly Snowy Owls has been poor till late yesterday afternoon.  First one needs to understand that Snowy Owls are birds of the open tundra with nary a tree for hundreds and hundreds of miles. These birds hunt by sight. Thus, a Snowy likes to find spots to perch for hunting where they can seen vast open spaces. However, when the wind makes not being blown off those kind of perches difficult, birds adapt.

I finally found Lady again last night. Watch the video embedded below (link for email subscribers). She is having a devil of a time holding on to her perch. She finally gave up and flew to a nearby neighborhood where she disappeared. However, as she dove from view I thought about those words … “she dove from view”. I wondered if this owl was escaping from the open areas and now hunting in a residential area … hunting from roof tops where she was shielded from the wind. The answer was a resounding “yes”. Over the course of the next fifteen minutes along with a few friends we not only repeatedly refound Lady as she worked along the roofs of various homes, but we quickly also found another Snowy Owl. I learned my lesson … if the winds are 20 mph or higher look for Snowies is unusually but protected areas. Lady needed to hunt as the weather has been cold (-23F at sunrise yesterday morning). Birds burn calories much faster keeping warm on these types of days.

Lady Trying to Hunt from an Open Pole (failed)

Lady the Snowy Owl

A Northern Shrike which did NOT like having the owl in the neighborhood. It was screaming up a racket.

Amity Owls!

Year 7,

My Great Horned Owls are back and on their nest! Over the past few months I have heard their love songs, but this afternoon I confirmed they are launching a new family. Last Spring I had a fantastic time watching Ma & Pa Great Horned Owls raise their twins. According to the Cornell School of Ornithology the first young should hatch in about one month, or about the 10th of March.

You might ask why any self-respecting owl would nest in the middle of the frigid Minnesota winter? The answer is quite logical … it’s all about prey. As the owlets grow and increase their food demands, other animals will be having their young (squirrels, mice, rabbits, crows, etc). Thus, there will lots of food for the parents available at nature’s supermarket. Finally, once the young are fledged there will be lots of new young prey upon which these young owls may practice their hunting before winter returns to the Northland.

Great Horned Owl on its Nest

Before I visited my own owls, I made a quick trip up to Sax-Zim Bog. The hoar frost was drop dead gorgeous this morning. Unfortunately I could not find a candidate bird to sit at close range for a photoshoot. This image was taken at quite a distance.

Northern Hawk Owl in a Hoar Frost Flocked Tree

Incidentally I was not dedicated to taking a picture of an owl with the hoar frost. I actually took a two mile hike in the woods … not a single Gray Jay, Crossbill or made their presence known. It was amazingly quiet.

Finally, yesterday morning before the sun came out from behind the clouds, I found this Great Gray Owl getting ready for its daily nap.

Great Gray Owl

Take-Off at Sunset!

Year 7

Take-Off of at sunset of Snowy Flight #007 … granted a license to kill!

I was with a number of friends this evening. Everyone else was positioned in a traditional photographer location with the sun at their backs and directly upon the Snowy Owl. However, having observed “Lady” over the course of many “flights”, I was convinced I knew where she would go next. Thus, I slogged through deep snow to position myself with the sun partially in my face and where I thought she would fly next. Lady did not disappoint and the image taken above resulted. By the time I reacted to her flight directly at me, this is what I saw as she flew past.  Do not mess with Lady; she has a license to kill!