Comment on the Plan to Kill / Shoot Barred Owls

Background, Year 10

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has a draft management plan to kill / shoot Barred Owls to save Spotted Owls in the Pacific Northwest. The Spotted Owl is native to this region, and the Barred Owl is encroaching upon their range. I think this plan is morally wrong. NBC News and others have recently reported about this “draft plan”. You may wish to read their news story about the Spotted and Barred Owl conflict.

It is wrong to kill one bird species to save another. This action will teach Barred Owls to fear humans. In addition it was likely humans who messed up the old growth forest habitat with excessive logging. Should we shoot loggers? While you may not agree with me, anyone may comment upon this proposed owl management plan. The comment period closes on January 16, 2024. Most news stories do not include a direct link to the US Fish and Wildlife Service Draft Plan Comment Page. Here is the link:

  • Comment upon the Barred Owl / Spotted Owl Draft Mgmt Plan

 

Sax-Zim Bog Winter Birding Facilitated Trip / Tour

Year 10

Many people have asked me to guide them for winter birding trips in northern Minnesota, including (perhaps mainly) Sax-Zim Bog.  This winter between February 5 and 8 I will facilitate winter birding in northern Minnesota.

Very important: My birding experience, facilitation and guiding comes at no charge … for free! I am taking zero money for facilitating this event! My love of birds and northern Minnesota’s wildlife is the basis of my gift to the attendees.

One needs to sign up / register now. The actual event which includes lodging and meals is being run by Duluth’s South Pier Inn (registration /information link given below), an excellent place of lodging on the Park Point side of the Aerial Bridge. Rooms look out directly upon the Duluth Ship Canal. I am a friend of the South Pier Inn’s general manager, and have agreed to facilitate the winter birding.

Each evening prior to the next day’s birding I will help plan outings at a hosted dinner. The first night will even include dinner at Duluth’s prestigious private club, the Kitchi Gammi Club. This private club was built by the lumber and mining barons in the early 1900’s.

Space is limited. The South Pier Inn will start confirming registration requests on December 27 … two days after Christmas.

Birding a World Without Color!

Year 10
A world without color! It seems as if at least once a week since the Fall bird migration started, I have visited the Greenwood Forest Fire Burn Area (Minnesota Public Radio News Link). It has been a little over two years since the wildfire, which means nature is already recovering. Two of the first bird species that often move into a burn area are Black Backed Woodpeckers, and Northern Hawk Owls. I have been looking for both species.
Northern Minnesota’s boreal forest is at the southern edge of the vast boreal forest stretching north to the tundra line in Canada. Thus, we are often not a “hot” spot for these bird species that love freshly burned out regions. However, the woodpeckers are all over the place in the Greenwood Burn Area, and I had been hoping I would eventually find a Northern Hawk Owl this Fall. Jackpot this morning in the fog!
This image shows the Hawk Owl perched at the top of a burned out spruce. My hope is now a second Hawk Owl of the opposite sex will show up this winter to make for some “owl love” and nesting!
And two close-ups taken taken in the freezing fog this morning. There might not have been any color but I was thrilled with the find!

In case anyone wonders given how many folks are visiting Sax-Zim Bog right now, I was by my lonesome this morning well north of Two Harbors … not even other cars from non birders!