Lake Superior North Shore Owl Invasion of 2017

Year 4

In mid January, local birders in the Minnesota Arrowhead felt the winter of 2016/2017 would be remembered as one of few owls coming south from Canada, but that all changed two weeks ago. At first a few Great Gray Owls started appearing, and those folks who were willing to bird before dawn and after sunset had a good opportunity to see the gray ghost of the forest between Duluth and Grand Marais. One week ago the owl irruption kicked into higher gear. While birding still requires significant effort, and an understanding of habitat, it has not been unusual to go birding for a few hours and be rewarded with the sight of a few owls.

Yesterday was a good “owling day”. The wind was calm and the skies were quite cloudy. An occasional snow squall would roll in our Lake Superior, but the winds were reasonable most of the day. A buddy of mine drove up from Minneapolis, and in a few hours we saw both Great Grey Owls and even one Northern Saw-Whet Owl. In short it was a great day to be out in the northern Minnesota forest.

For those of you considering a birding trip to this area, I would guesstimate the owls will be around till at least March 1st. Given the lesser snow depths near Lake Superior, most owls are within one mile of the big lake. Birding further inland, at least for owls, will not be as effective. Find roadside meadows and power line cuts with good hunting snags, and you should find your owls.

Northern Saw-Whet Owl (sleepy!)

The Gray Ghost of the Forest

Taking Aim at a Mouse or Vole

An Unhappy Great Gray Owl … Attack Aborted!

An Eagle Flies Overhead … Pretend to be a Tree!

Barred Owl Hunting (video)

Year 4

This post could have also been titled:

  • Dumb Luck Birding
    (or)
  • Barred Owl takes me over the Top!

The title “dumb luck birding” would have been appropriate as this owl showed up around noon, and was still hunting next to my house just before sunset. While I don’t bait owls, the spillage from my feeders attracts lots of squirrels, mice and voles. Owls understand this fact. The image accompanying this post was taken from my dining room as I sipped on a glass of Chardonnay! Thus … dumb luck birding!

The title “Barred Owl takes me over the Top” would have been appropriate as with this post my blog, 365DaysOfBirds will achieve 100,000 lifetime views (a period of almost exactly three years). When I started this blog I never dreamed how popular it would become.

Thus … the Bird of the Day is a Barred Owl, which is actually the second owl to today for me. At sunrise I watched a Great Gray Owl silhouetted against the pre-dawn orange sky. However, in that instance not only was i NOT in my dining room, but I was birding in -5F degree weather!

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Here is a video from earlier this afternoon during one the owls hunts.

Frozen Photographer Failures at 5 Below

Year 4

Over the past few days the temperatures have dipped to -10F each night, but that has not stopped this photographer from practicing his craft. Unfortunately, the extreme cold temperatures are affecting my brain. Severe cold does not play nice with camera equipment. In addition, one needs to be careful when with wind added into the equation, the chill factors drop into the -20F to -25F range.

Thus, my frozen photographer failures over the past two days (and one success)

  1. While standing for over an hour on a remote forest trail to watch the John Beargrease sled dog race, I forgot to bring extra batteries. I did have extras but they were back in my car next to the trailhead. After one mushers went by, when the second and third teams approached, the dreaded “battery exhausted” message appeared on my camera display.
    .
  2. This morning I found a Great Gray Owl 30 minutes before sunrise. I had been out since 3:45 am trying to capture an Aurora Borealis photographs. My plan was to photograph the Northern Lights and then head home for some sleep. Well, the Northern Lights did not shine, and while I had my head pointed down (i.e. eyes not on the owl) to make adjustments to my night photography gear in an attempt capture an image of the owl silhouetted against the pre-dawn orange sky, the bird flew off.  I invested another hour trying to relocated said bird, but failed. It would have been a great photograph! Did I mention my birding photography gear was at home in the kitchen?!

Thankfully, I did track down the dog sled teams after a quick drive to another trailhead which resulted in these images.