Tag Archives: MN North: Amity

Day 066: Owl Alley Afternoon

Year 1,

Lester River Road, now known as “Owl Alley” is a great hangout for owls, and me. My birding spot is only 1/2 mile as the crow flies, and 1.25 miles by car. While a 1/2 mile walk might not seem difficult, I actually drive over because the hike would force me to ford two rivers and scale two deep ravines! This afternoon I drove over in search of my great gray owl, but was treated with spending two hours watching a northern hawk owl on the hunt. While the northern hawk owl was never successful while I was watching, it was fun to see him search and fly. Here are a few photos from this afternoon’s trip to Owl Alley.

I see you!
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I hate meeces to pieces!
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Hanging out in a grove a trees (very difficult photo to take)
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A Pair of Common Mergansers at Canal Park (first Spring sighting!)
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Day 064: Mya’s One Day of Birds!

Year 1

Grampa decided he would let me write his blog entry today. My name is Mya, and I’m two years old. This past Saturday Grammy and Grampa came down to the Twin Cities to celebrate my birthday. You see, my birthday is one day before Grampa’s and I’m more important! After my birthday my brother Ben (age 3) and I traveled up to Duluth without my Mommy and Daddy.

Grampa likes to watch and photograph birds. I decided I would also try watching birds. A BIG snow storm came and I watched all the birds come to the feeders. We saw goldfinches, red and white breasted nuthatches, chickadees, downy and hairy woodpeckers. Here are some of my pictures. Oh yes, I did much better than Grammy. She went bird watching with Grampa on Monday night. They watched a Great Horned Owl and their babies. She only saw two birds. I saw many, many more! Here is Gramma’s post, also called One Day of Birds.

Oh yes … my Grampa was all excited because the goldfinches are starting to get golden yellow again. He said that even with the 3+ feet of snow on the ground (March 27th), this was a sure sign of Spring.

Me (Mya)! Watching goldfinches.
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Goldfinch flying into a tree.
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Goldfinch with a sunflower seed.
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Red Breasted Nuthatch
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Downy Woodpecker
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Day 059: Post Snowstorm Signs of Spring!

Year 1

Signs of Spring! The bird guides note that the red-bellied woodpeckers at the extreme northern edge of their range migrate south for the Winter. Thus, it’s with great pleasure I saw my first northern return on a morning where the mercury dropped to +2F with a strong northwest wind. (Duluth, Minnesota is considered north??)

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