I wasn’t planning on Bogging it today, but my buddy Jeff M. wanted to go owling. How could I resist? By 6:15 am I was out the door and “bog bound”. Our morning was pretty slow, but after a late breakfast / early lunch we struck gold. We found a Northern Hawk Owl within yards of where I had seen it a few days previously. Owls are like fishermen; in the winter if they find a good hunting spot it is amazing how often they return to hunt from the same exact trees.

Although there was a decent snow flurry in progress, the owl was kind enough to land with a bunch of tamarack pines as a backdrop (white skies are boring). Thus, I decided it was worth slogging through the deep snow in an attempt to get some good images. I think my friend Jeff thought I was crazy because at times I had to wade through snow up to my mid thigh.

Eventually I approached close enough to the owl that I was comfortable some great photography would entail, but even more importantly I would not flush or stop the owl from hunting. I was correct on all accounts. My method for approaching the owl was to slowly walk about five yards forward … stop and wait for a few minutes … and then repeat many times. My goal was to appear harmless, which was successful. Take a look at the photograph taken immediately below, which represented my closest approach to the Northern Hawk Owl (about 30 yards). Here is a pic of me in action (photo taken by Jeff). Look for the small bird in the tree towards the center top of the image (may need to click / press upon to view at a larger resolution).

Just importantly I never flushed the owl. This photograph is the last the image I took. The owl is totally ignoring me as it hunts for mice and voles. When I left this bird, I actually backed up very slowly … once again about five yards at a time with multiple pauses. Eventually I turned and retraced my steps through the snow.

Here are the photographs I captured. Pretty cool?! A Northern Hawk Owl is about the size of raven.

Yesterday morning I went to the Bog … as in Sax-Zim Bog. While everyone else was concentrating on seeing the Boreal Owl, I stayed away from Admiral Road and had a fantastic time. I knew all the “boreal birders” would mean I would have the rest of the Bog to myself. I was not mistaken.

Arriving a bit before sunrise I waited for some warming rays to reach my target bird. It was cold watching the Barred Owl. When I had left Duluth the temperature was 14F next to Lake Superior, but upon arriving at my target location an hour later, the mercury had dropped to -8F (22 degrees colder). Thankfully the trip, and waiting outside in the cold was worth the effort. This Barred Owl has been terrorizing the feeders we keep at “Winterberry Bog”. The owl knows there is good hunting for mice and voles near the feeders.

Finally, if you ever doubted that owls are nocturnal species, check out my images taken three hours later (I returned). The owl had not moved one inch. Did I mention it was cold? This bird was not wasting any energy. It’s perch was out in the sun. Given the winds were calm the sun’s rays felt good for both man and bird.

Barred Owl at Sunrise (the sun had been on the owl for less than a few minutes)

Barred Owl 3 Hours After Sunrise (same bird … same perch)

Bird feeders are sometimes not safe for “Tweety Bird” or “Jerry”.  I found a Northern Shrike hunting a feeder up in the Bog this morning. This bird may look small (about the size of a Robin), but is means death for songbirds and mice. Upon catching a small bird, vole or mouse, it vigorously shakes its prey back and forth till it breaks it breaks the neck of its catch.

Northern Shrike (Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota)

One nickname for this bird is the “Butcher Bird”. You may wish to compare the Northern Shrike to its southern cousin, the Loggerhead Shrike which I saw in Fort Myers last week. Notice how the Loggerhead has a wider black band across its head.

Loggerhead Shrike (Fort Myers, Florida)

Here are the Cornell School of Ornithology links for both birds

• Northern Shrike
• Loggerhead Shrike