Book Award Finalist: Hey there Mr. Owl!

Year 6

Hey there Mr. Owl is a finalist for the Northeast Minnesota Book Awards sponsored by the University of Minnesota.  For the second time I collaborated with Susan Larson Kidd (the author) and Sparky Stensaas (book designer). All the photographs in the book are mine.

In our children’s book, while your special child learns to read and is introduced to the five senses (touch, taste, feel, smell and hear), they will follow owls around the Northern Forest as each owl meets up with other forest birds and mammals (see end of blog post for a complete list).

Up until Awards Night on May 23rd, you may also download a free version of my upcoming NEW children’s book, Snowy’s Search for Color. The print version will be available by Christmas. Feedback in the comments concerning my new book is greatly appreciated. (PDF Format Reading Screenshot for my new book)

Here are some page previews of our book, Hey there Mr. Owl!, which is up for the NEMBA Award, along with a purchase link.

Purchase book … normal price is $12 per copy Book Preview: Front Cover

Book Preview: Page 2 and 3 (page 1 is a title page)

Book Preview: Page 4 and 5

Book Preview: Page 6 and 7

Book Preview: Page 32 and Back Cover

Owls found within the book

  • Barred Owl
  • Boreal Owl
  • Great Gray Owl
  • Great Horned Owl
  • Northern Hawk Owl
  • Northern Saw-whet Owl
  • Snowy Owl

Other birds found within the book

  • American Goldfinch
  • Red-Winged Blackbird

Mammals found within the book

  • American Beaver
  • American Mink
  • Gray Fox
  • Red Fox
  • River Otter
  • Skunk
  • Snowshoe  Hare
  • White-Tailed Deer

Make certain you also visit my Birding with Children section of this web site. It has ideas and projects which will hep you introduce a child to the world of birds!

Doubles! Great Horned Owlets!

Year 6

Anyone remember the classic Doublemint Gum commercials? The gum’s slogan was: Double Your Pleasure. Double Your Fun! My morning followed the advertising jingle.

Arriving in the woods around 6:30 am I could not find any owls … parents or young in the nest or perched in the tree. However, a search of the surrounding forest finally yielded not one, but two owlets! My guess was the young owl I saw yesterday which had not yet fledged was being protected by the Mom,  Given all the crows in the area, now that both owlets have fledged, moving to a new tree was a good idea. Thus, I am proud to report that Les and Amy (Great Horned Owl parents) have not just one, but two young owlets.” I doubled my fun!” Enjoy …

Great Horned Twin #1

Great Horned Twin #2

The Siblings

Watching Out for those Pesky Crows

And the bookend to this post!

Lester Amity Great Horned Owl Family

Year 6,

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 …