Super B-Owl Sunday! Northern Saw-Whet!

February 4, 2018Year 5MN North: Duluth Harbor, MN North: Two Harbors Highlandsrichardhoeg@gmail.com

At 7:15 am the air temperature was -19F. In short it was a great day to go birding. The skies were crystal clear and the winds were calm. In my book, that means owls should be out hunting. I was not disappointed, but first I had to take a trip down to Brighton Beach on Lake Superior and enjoy the pre-dawn light over the ice fields!

After some time down at the lake, I went birding. Within a few minutes I found my first Great Gray Owl of the day hunting only two miles from my house! While I am still waiting for a yard owl, this was pretty cool. Over the course of the morning I saw three Great Grays, and one Northern Saw-Whet. Early on in my morning travels I stopped to take a photograph of this horse. Kind of cool how frost forms and freezes on the back of a horse at -19F.

Some time with a Northern Saw-Whet Owl

A Black-Capped Chickadee photo bombs my image

A Great Gray Owl dressed up in snow flocked pines

This afternoon after a Nordic ski I decided a change of pace was in order and went looking for Snowies. I did find two but photo opps did not appear.

In short is was a great Super Bird Sunday! (what’s football?)

Snow Storm Raptors

February 3, 2018Year 5MN North: North Shore of Lake Superior, MN North: Two Harbors Highlandsrichardhoeg@gmail.com

It was not worth checking out most of my owling grounds today. Any smart owl was in the deep woods due to the presence of this Bald Eagle.

Yesterday was a good day north of Duluth. After many days of high winds, the air calmed which I knew would make for easier birding. Remember, Great Gray Owls hunt by listening for voles and mice running underneath the snow. High winds make it very hard to hear anything. I found this owl hunting very near my house!

Finally I found this Boreal Owl sleeping before sunset along the North Shore of Lake Superior!

Ice Ducks … The Movie!

January 31, 2018Year 5MN North: Brighton Beachrichardhoeg@gmail.com

Lake Superior is fickle. Yesterday my end of Lake Superior was iced in as far as the eye could see … thus my ice sunrise photographs. Today, a very strong wind out of the west blew most of the ice away from Duluth. Thus, we have open water once more 1/2 mile downhill from my house. There is a small stream that is underground for a while just where these mallards are congregating. I think they like the relatively warmer water, and the fact that the HUGE ice build-up on shore is protecting them from the wind.

These first two images show how a photographer is able to dramatically change an image. The point of view is the same, but in the first photo I chose to focus on the ice leaving the ducks out of focus, and in the second image I kept the foreground ducks in focus.