Late Friday afternoon I drove over to Sax-Zim Bog. My hope and goal was to photograph an owl against the riding moon. I have found the day before the “full moon” is the best day to photograph objects in the foreground (like an owl) with the moon still not to far above the horizon. From a strictly photography vantage point the day before full, the moon is at 99% of full, and rises about one hour before the next evening (the actual full moon). The eye can not tell the difference between 99% and 100% full moons, and the earlier rising hour makes for more light on foreground objects. During my photographic career, I have pulled off these photos a few times. First one much find an owl, and then it must agree to pose during the 15 to 20 minutes where moon pics are possible.

Here is an effort from last winter when I succeeded.

However this past Friday night I failed. Although I found two owls, neither bird was willing to hunt during the early evening where I could align the rising moon behind them. All was not lost, however, the male Snowy Owl which has been hanging out in Sax-Zim Bog the past few weeks provided me a great show before sunset, and at sunset!

Snowy Owl Hunts & Catches a Vole

The Attack

The Capture, Meal and TakeOff

Snowy Catches Another Vole (TakeOff)

Sunset Railroad Snowy

One cool fact from this sequence … I was standing about 50 yards away from the owl. Little did I know it had spied a vole within 15 feet of me. The Snowy flew right at me … attacking the vole right at my feet (it missed). My heart was going thumpa, thumpa, thumpa!

Yup … moon shot failures. Who cares?!

It is 52F outside at 12:30 pm on February 22nd as I type this post. My youngest son, an elite cross-country skier is scheduled to compete in the American Birkebeiner on Sunday … he hopes. The Birkie is a 54 kilometer long ski marathon with over 10,000 competitors … reduced to 30 kilometers on a tight gerbil track this winter … no snow. However it is not just championship skiers who hate this weather; animals and birds which use winter white camouflage for their protection have a difficult time this year. Snowshoe hares stand out like a sore thumb making them easier prey.

Two days ago I watched this Long-Tailed Weasel bringing bedding to its den. The weasel is a predator, but is winter coat of white fur allows its prey an easier ability to spy its approach. Many folks have visited Sax-Zim Bog this winter and say … “I saw an ermine”! Maybe yes, maybe no! Here is how one may tell the difference between a mink, ermine and weasel. I watched this weasel far from any carcasses put out by the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog. In fact, I was privilege to watch the furry white critter for 35 minutes which was amazing. It was bringing bedding to its den where soon youngsters will be born.

I also spent some time with our resident Snowy Owl. Soon it will head north. It’s natural jacket of white feathers might often make it decide to take cover during the day to hide from crows and other pesky folks. White is useless this winter.

Making the big leap from one perch to another.

There is absolutely nothing great about the first image which is remarkable, but it did represent three days of efforts and one Snowy Owl. This has been the “UnWinter”. Not only is snow not on the ground in this exceedingly strange winter, but for the first time I can ever remember I had not seen a Snowy Owl till mid February (normally I find many of the white owls as early as December 1st). In Superior, Wisconsin which is normally a hotbed for seeing the large white birds, nary an owl.
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A male Snowy Owl showed up at Sax-Zim Bog last Sunday, and I went into overdrive. Through the middle of the past week I chased this rare bird (normally a species not unusual during the winter). Finally on Wednesday I got close to the owl for a few seconds only to have some crows chase the bird out of sight (no pic). Thursday the white owl was hanging out at the far limit of my camera’s reach … really beyond the reach.
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Anyhow … a 3 day effort for one bird and one photo.

I actually knew the bird left its daytime roost out in the meadow about 45 minutes before sunset, but my schedule which includes cooking dinner for Molly and me does not allow for late afternoon or evening birding. I had given up hope of seeing the Snowy Owl close up, and had not planned to visiting Sax-Zim yesterday when a chance encounter with a reader of this blog down near Aitkin while looking for Sharp-Tailed Grouse changed my plans. It was fun to show off and explain habitat. Then I decided, why not the white owl? We drove one hour north and much to my surprise, the owl was out hunting during the middle of the day. Life is good!

This bird tends to hang out starting after the big curve on Hwy #7 just north of Arkola Road through a bit north of Sax Road where the thicker forest begins once more.