Tag Archives: MN North: Amity

One Half Year with the Amity Owls

Year 8

Back in mid February I found this year’s Great Horned Owl nest by taking evening hikes and listening for the hoots of owls in love. For three years I have followed the Amity Owls around the Lester / Amity Forest. However, for the past two weeks the owls had made themselves scarce, but that changed two days ago when the now almost fully grown owlets hooted in my yard at 1 am. At 5 am the hoot resumed, and 75 minutes before sunrise I found the owls hunting from the top of some nearby white pines.

Yesterday evening the owls started calling not too long after sunset, which told me a dawn hike was required for this morning. Jackpot! I found two of the five owls. I think the owlets are now only occasionally being fed by the parents, which forces the youngsters to hunt after sunrise till they hone their skills.

Regardless, it was fun to find my friends again this morning …

Birds being Ugly!

Year 8
Moulting season turns even the prettiest birds into big scary monsters! Here is a Pileated Woodpecker I photographed yesterday afternoon. If you notice some of your backyard birds are definitely not looking handsome right now, most of our fine feathered friends are busy moulting (replacing all their feathers)

Summer’s Predators

Year 8,

It was 38F just after sunup this morning at Sax-Zim Bog. Nature was decked out in green with scattered wildflowers. I wore shorts and a lightweight short-sleeved cotton sweater! This Great Gray Owl wore its finest down.

If you are a vole, you are in BIG trouble.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch the young Merlins scream for food. This particular Merlin was in a dead tree right off my driveway. At least one time per day the Merlin family works their way towards my yard (they nested about 800 yards distant). I am certain my feeders and the resulting songbirds attract the Merlins. I actually heard this juvenile screaming while I was inside my home.