Tag Archives: MN North: Amity

Nest in Sight! Great Horned Owl!

Year 9

Success! … at least almost. After over 20 nighttime hikes stumbling through snow that is over 3 feet deep, I found “Dad’s” daytime roost. By listening and tracking the evening hoot, I had narrowed down the forest nesting area. This is the fourth year I have watched this unique pair of Great Horned Owls raise owlets! While I did not find the nest this morning (went back this morning to the location of last night’s hoot), I know from experience the male always sits during the first few weeks within line of sight of the female / nest. I may not find the nest till the snow melts and the whitewash and owl pellets are more easily seen, but it is now only a matter of time! This winter has been particularly brutal as for most of my nighttime hikes, the temperature were well below zero.

Should you have Great Horned Owls hooting near your home, if you would like to watch them raise their young, now is the time to get out there at night and follow the hoot. Within 2 to 3 weeks the parents will stop hooting.

Great Horned Owl (father of Hoot)

Actually it has been a good week for owls. A few days ago when the winds were calm for 48 hours I made certain to get outside … found the Snowy Owl just before sunset, and this Great Gray Owl just after sunrise two days ago in Sax-Zim Bog. Although the wind was calm, the air was cold (-35F). The owl was not hunting, and only want to feel some warmth of the sun’s golden rays after a brutally cold night.

Great Gray Owl

Hooting up a Storm, During a Storm!

Year 9
So last night what do you do during a BIG snowstorm? If you are my local male Great Horned Owl, you hoot your love to your sweetheart. If you are me, you head out hiking during the storm and find said owl … in the dark silhouetted against the sky … and watch / listen to the singing. The owl would move its entire body with each hoot. It had to hard to hoot into the wind. I have edited out some of the silence. The photograph is of the actual unique individual owl which is hooting, just during the day and not in the middle of a snowstorm, but the hooting is from last night.
(audio link for email subscribers)

If anyone would like a free PDF download of my children’s book, which documents the owlets raised my this owl and its mate (factually correct), browse to Hoot’s page.

Boreal Bird?

Year 9

Here is a bird I never would have considered a Boreal bird … the Red-Bellied Woodpecker. I photographed it in my yard yesterday morning, and although it is in an aspen, my neighborhood is dominated by white pine trees. It stays the winter, along with a pair of Northern Cardinals … another bird which never used to live up north. While hiking in the Lester / Amity woods, I often see the Red-Bellied foraging on both pines and cedar trees. It has obviously adapted to the pine forest.

Photographed during a snow squall … another major winter storm starts late tonight!

Red-Bellied Woodpecker (male … a female would have a gap at the top of its head in the red coloring)

Enjoying the snow (video link for email subscribers)