The Great Horned Owlets are now juveniles, but they have  not yet been kicked out of the territory by their parents. Everything seems one month behind this year. Unlike prior years these owlets did not hatch till the very end of March. In the prior years the Great Horned Owls nested a month earlier, but this Spring was long, cold and snowy (white stuff on the ground till the end of April).

Yesterday afternoon would not have seemed like a great day to take a bird hike and go owling. In fact, if you pay attention while watching the video (video link for email subscribers), one may easily tell there was rain coming down from the heavens. The rain and strong wind coming in off Lake Superior made for an extremely blustery day.

Video: Watching an Owl … Ignoring a Chickadee

Here are some of my favorite moments from yesterday’s afternoon photoshoot with the Amity Owlets. Soon they will be forced to leave the neighborhood.

American Redstart … Ignore it, and hopefully the little squirt will leave.

It did!

What I think of your darn camera! (maximize for full effect)

Time to bug my sibling … he, he, heee!

Remember the movie Mary Poppins, and how she stated she would take care of the Banks children till the wind changed??! Migrating birds have a similar view and when the wind shifted out of the NW around sunrise this morning, migration was back on! In my own yard I discovered that one of my two mountain ash trees had ripe berries, while one did not. Around 11 am migrating waxwings cleaned out one of my trees of all of its berries in 20 minutes, and totally ignored the mountain ash tree with lighter red fruit. Most of the this morning’s flock appeared to be juveniles.

Cedar Waxwings

In August I wrote about a new tool I was using to help process photographs, Topaz Labs’ Sharpen AI (see post). While one may never revisit all of one’s photographs (too time consuming), it is fun to rework certain images. Thus a blast from the past … selected photos from Year #2 of my blog (this is year #9). I would hope that in addition to upgraded camera equipment and editing tools, I have just plain become a better birder and photographer. While I can never retake the same image, Topaz AI does yield some amazing results on old friends.

Northern Hawk Owl (my signature bird)

Nordic Skiing

Red Fox

Frozen in Flight (Goldeneyes)

Ice Planet Moonrise (Lake Superior’s North Shore)

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird in our Garden (Bee Balm)

Wisconsin Ice Caves

House Wren

Notes

• I took the Northern Hawk Owl photographs after three straight days of stormy weather off Lake Superior. When the day finally dawned sunny, clear and cold, I spent hours trying to find a Northern Hawk Owl I had been tracking all winter. Success was finally achieved!
• For the Frozen in Flight Goldeneye photographs I was standing at the end of Duluth’s old Interstate Bridge. I saw the ducks swimming towards the dead end of an ice lead. I knew the birds had to either dive or take-off. I was poised and ready!
• For the hummingbird photograph, notice the bird’s shadow. The last light of the day (or first light) is golden for many reasons. The shadow’s angle shows the sun would set within minutes.
• And yes … while I love being out in the woods throughout the year, winter is my favorite time of year in terms of photography.