Category Archives: Year 10

Four Months of FuzzBall and Friends!

Year 10

I lied! I said no more posts before heading to Lake Vermilion, but it is now four months that I have watched FuzzBall and family. I first found the nest location during a blizzard back in early March. Although I had taken a huge number of hikes in the dark listening to the evening hoot, it was when during a snowstorm I went outside on my deck and realized I could hear the Great Horned Owl parents hooting back and forth during the blizzard. The owls had to be nesting very near my house or I would not have been able to hear them over the howling wind. I took these images the next morning when the storm lessened up considerably.

Last night  I had intended to just rest on the couch and then watch with Molly an episode of Alone. After all, I had been up before dawn … birded the Wisconsin Grasslands … took a 12 mile bike ride and am still even recovering from Lyme disease, but noooooo! While stretched out on the couch I kept hearing a few crows giving grief to my owl friends (remember, I speak crow). I decided the nice evening light demanded that I take an evening hike and attempt to find FuzzBall.

After a one mile walk, I did in fact find one of the two owlets (plus two other trees with new whitewash). Here are last night’s efforts.

The star of the show … the sun would set within five minutes.

Short video of the owlet (video link for email subscribers)

Crazy Success Cuckoo Quest 2023

Year 10

I rose long before sunrise yesterday morning, which is a challenge because the sun rises at 5:15 am. However, I wanted to catch the early morning golden hour in my search for Black-Billed Cuckoos. Yesterday morning’s light was perfect given the fact all the rain over the past few days (3 inches in NE Minnesota) had knocked the forest fire smoke out of the air, and the day had dawned clear as a bell.

Cuckoo Quest 2023 was a smashing success. Not only did I find lots of cuckoos, but my camera even captured a Black Bear! (plus a Baltimore Oriole, Purple Finches, an American Kestrel and an Upland Sandpiper). It is a time of plenty in the Northland for birds if you know where to look!

First, birding equals location, location, location. While I had documented an amazing number for Black-Billed Cuckoo eBird sightings in my earlier post, I actually skipped all but one of the of the earlier sighting spots due to various things I did not like about those locations. However the location on Hessey Road was wunderbar! (see my screenshot of location and Google Maps link). This spot is stupendous. There is an old white pine (65% dead) that is by itself way out in the open and every bird loved landing on that same tree early in the morning … including some of the multiple cuckoos I heard calling. The old white pine in combination with forest on one side of Hessey Road and farmland / pasture on the other side of the road was perfect for birds. In my 90 minutes of birding on the dirt road, zero cars drove by me!

Now … here are photographs that I took all from near the old white pine on Hessey Road.

The first star of the morning, a Black Bear

Black-Billed Cuckoos

American Kestrel

Baltimore Oriole

Purple Finch

Two short videos of the famous cuckoos (links for email subscribers: One | Two)

On the the way home I watched this Upland Sandpiper

Now it’s off to Lake Vermilion for a week at its very remote NW corner! I also intend to spend some time up at Crane Lake and the border region … only 40 minutes from our Lake Vermilion cabin.