Tag Archives: MN North: Amity

Great Horned Owl Family Watching Crow Attack

Year 6

This morning I watched the Great Horned Owl family watch their Dad take one for the team. Mom was hanging very tight against the trunk of the White Pine with her two owlets while Dad perched in another tree and attracted the attention of the crows. He then flew off with more than 20 crows in pursuit. Mom obviously knew of my presence, but please realize I have a very long zoom lens, and am no where near the owls.

Great Horned Owl Family Watches Dad Fly By With Crows in Pursuit.

Mom Checking Me Out … Owlets Start to Watch Fly By

Entire owl family watching Dad circling with crows in pursuit

Second Owlet has moved out of sight

Mom looks over at me again. Youngster still watching crows and Dad.

Fly By is Over … Back to Sleep for Owlet

Meet “Red” … An Uncommon Loon

Year 6,

I had almost given up hope of seeing a Red-Throated Loon that was not hundreds of yards out on Lake Superior. The northward migration of these loons up to the Tundra and Arctic in Canada is almost finished. In fact, I thought the chance of seeing “Red” after Memorial Day was very unlikely. However this spring has been very cold, and the northern migration has been delayed. This morning a trio of loons were feeding on smelt near the Minnesota Point beach just outside the surf. Jackpot!

Believe it or not the Red-Throated Loons were actually my second neat find of the morning. My friend Jon and I had already spent 15 minutes watching a flock of ten Marbled Godwits feeding out on the Park Point Ball Fields. I’m really glad I did not decide to drive over to the ball fields last night as suggested by a friend because while yesterday evening’s weather was 41F, cloudy with a 20 mph wind, this morning it was 44F with clear skies and a light breeze … much more pleasant and better light for birding photography (thanks Greg for letting me know about the sighting).

Jon’s and my final stop of the morning was a visit to my Great Horned Owl family. Although we initially searched for over 30 minutes, we could not find the owls. However when 20+ crows, a few blue jays, and this Merlin decided to attack the family, we finally discovered their hiding spot. The sight lines to the owls was horrible, but here is a photo of Mr. Merlin screaming its displeasure with the owl family. If the Merlin has decided to nest in this area, it will be a regrettable decision … its chicks will end up as owl candy.

Quite frankly, even in my book, it’s hard to have a much better birding excursion. Jon and I left at 6:40, and were home by 9:30. We only spent 40 minutes in the car (20 minutes in each direction). We saw lots more birds than I photographed. These were just the highlights.

Northward Ho..oh!

Year 6

Remember all the old Western movies, and the wagon train pulling out. The leader will yell … Westward Ho oh! Well someone finally told the birds it was time to move north, but then the cold North wind said STOP! There have been an amazing number of birds at the head of Lake Superior over the past few days, but the very late spring has meant limited food. I have seen lots of warblers battling the few returning humming birds for the use of my hummingbird feeder (seriously). If the warblers are not drinking from the hummingbird feeder, they are eating suet. It’s weird, but when you’re hungry …

Now most people might have thought yesterday was an ugly day for birding. The local weather had occasional showers, dark skies, high winds (25 mph) and only 45F. However, I decided differently. After taking care of some business items, I hiked over to visit my local Great Horned Owl family. I discovered the owls were up late (8:30 am), and the Mom was giving flying lessons to the kids. If you want food, fly to Mom. Finally, the parent owl perched out in the open and paused to allow her photograph to be taken.

Upon returning home, I discovered that now in addition to the migrating warblers at my feeders (and many other birds), Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks were chowing down. I often have four grosbeaks in my feeders at once with many more in the woods. While this is not unusual for Evening and Pine Grosbeaks, I am not used to hosting flocks of Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks. It was cool and exciting. More migration photographs coming as I have time to post.

I know some of you follow my blog because I am one of the first users of the Canon SX-70. All of these grosbeak images were taken with higher ISO numbers to allow for a faster shutter speed. I am thrilled with how well the ISO 800 pics turned out. Remember, all things being equal … an ISO photo 400 should have double the quality of an ISO image. I will admit to taking lots of photos using burst mode. You’re not seeing the blurry images. This strategy is smart photography when one has bad light. Adjust to the weather situation.

Finally, while the female’s coloration may seem drab, it’s great camouflage for sitting on a nest.

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak Male … ISO 800 pics

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak Male and Female … ISO 400 pics