All posts by richardhoeg@gmail.com

Taking the Road Less Travelled in Life

Year 12

Molly and I have reached Florida, and our route south was not optimal according to Google.

  • Google said drive south via Atlanta. We said not.
  • Google then said drive south via I-65 including Indianapolis and Louisville. We said not (too much Atlanta traffic)
  • Instead we dropped south via I-57 avoiding major cities and north/south truck routes. Google said your routes will add an hour to your driving every day. We said … who cares?! Life must be enjoyed. See routes.
  • Finally, Google said take the Interstates to traverse Florida. Nope, we drove the  Nature’s Coast and found the Putnam Lodge in Cross City! Oh my, the Putnam Lodge in on the National Historic Register, having been built in 1927. The place is drop dead gorgeous, and reminds one of a different era. If you love beautiful workmanship and amazing woodwork, you need to visit this inn. Putnam’s prices are very reasonable, and you will experience part of America which is fast vanishing.

Our “non optimal” route

Putnam Lodge has 24 acres most of which are not developed and I look forward to taking a birding hike in the morning. This is Putnam’s photograph not mine, but I doubt they will mind me using it!

Post Update on

January 25th … Heading home to northern Minnesota. Molly and I will take back roads once more. Browse to these posts to learn and see where I was birding in the Fort Myers area. In addition, don’t forget to download your free PDF versions of the owl children’s picture books I have both written and photographed!

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Southbound Birding

Year 12

Stay tuned to learn if “boy birder” can find his feathered friends on his way south from near the Canadian border in northern Minnesota to the southern reaches of our beautiful country, Florida. He will escape the owl invasion of 2025, and hopefully discover new plumage power. This trip across our country from north to south will take 4 days, with a first stop in Green Bay Packer Country as he attempts to learn how three of his grandchildren ever came to be Cheeseheads.

Fact Check:

  • Bird Boy is almost 69 years old, but he still often acts like a little kid
  • The Owl Irruption will continue till at least March 1st. As crazy as this may seem, watching a Great Gray Owl is almost becoming boring. The key word here is “almost”.
  • This epic journey will be repeated later this month, Northbound Birding.
  • The journey begins now in the pre-dawn darkness of northern Minnesota. Les and Amy are hooting their love as I put the final items in our car.

10 Owls Can’t be Wrong!

Year 12

This winter birding season is crazy … crazy good in many respects. Yesterday a friend came north from the Twin Cities to hopefully see some Great Gray Owls. Anyhow, “old gray” came through and in only 3 hours of birding we saw ten owls … four by ourselves without another human present.

Another crazy aspect about this winter’s birding is twice in the past week I have gone out looking for Pine Grosbeaks. These beautiful birds this winter are a much harder find than owls. In fact I have only seen two Pine Grosbeaks all winter. I have lost track of how many Great Gray Owls I have watched.

Some pics from yesterdays’ owling … I only photographed 8 of the 10. I let my friend photograph the other two owls. Don’t miss the hunt images or the Ruffed Grouse at the end of the post.

Great Gray Owl #1

Great Gray Owl #2

Great Gray Owl #3

Great Gray Owl #4 (Signs of an Irruption)

Great Gray Owl #5

Great Gray Owl #6

Great Gray Owl #7

Great Gray Owl #8 (The Hunt … Unsuccessful)

Closely inspect these next two images. The owl is essentially hovering in place, but losing altitude as it adjusts its attack using sound triangulation. A Great Gray’s ears are offset and its brain essentially uses trigonometry to collect the sound and determine attack vectors.

Two Ruffed Grouse

Grouse #1

Grouse #2