John and I drove up to the Sax-Zim Bog this morning. Our goal and hope was to find and photograph a Great Gray Owl. Although the skies were gray once more, we experience a magical day … not one, or two, or three, but four great gray owls made their presence known for our cameras.

The most magical experience of the day was watching two owls (mates?) play with each other in the treetops. Each owl would drive and do other airborne feats on the wing at the other bird, but in a totally nonthreatening manner. Even more hard to believe we saw these two great gray owls at approximately 11:00 am. Whatever happened to “nocturnal”!

Finally we visited a countryside feeder where the home owners had reported evening grosbeaks. We are not disappointed in this quest either, as our eyes feasted upon over 125 birds in the flock!

• View this project’s Flickr photo stream. (click upon images to view at full size / resolution)

The Great Gray Owls of Sax-Zim Bog

———-

Breakfast Time for Evening Grosbeaks