Category Archives: Year 12

Minnesota Owl Irruption and the Magic Lighthouses!

Year 12

When one lives in the middle of the Great Gray Owl irruption of 2025, one can be very picky about when to head out and look for owls. Yesterday morning was beautiful, albeit very cold, but with clear skies long before sunrise. The day prior we had experienced a snowstorm with 40+ mph winds. Thus, I knew that Great Gray Owls which hunt by hearing voles running beneath the snow, had gone hungry during the storm. I expected my local owls to be out before sunrise looking for food. Thus, I took the short drive to Two Harbors, ignoring other owls because I wanted the sunrise and both of our two lighthouses in my photographs. I really can’t believe I have become this “picky” on when and where I will look for owls!

Regardless … Great Gray Owls and the Two Harbors Lighthouses at Sunrise

Lighthouse #1 and Great Gray Owl

Lighthouse #1 and Great Gray Owl

Lighthouse #2 and Great Gray Owl

10 Minutes After Sunrise … Owl Hunting … I’m Leaving (going home)

Coat of Many Colors Bird Plumage

Year 12

Some of you may be familiar with the play / movie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Donny Osmond made this brilliant coat famous (email subscribers: video link to see the coat … skip forward to the one minute mark). Dolly Parton please accept my apologies … this is the coat of many colors! LOL.

Recently while birding in both Minnesota and Florida, I saw birds with “coats of many colors”! In Florida I watched Painted Buntings at the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp and in Minnesota I watched Ring-Necked Pheasants on a snowy backroad. First here are the birds, followed by a discussion about Corkscrew Swamp vs Six Mile Cypress Slough (both in the Fort Myers area).

Technicolor Plumage #1: Painted Bunting

Technicolor Plumage #2: Ring-Necked Pheasant

Now the promised discussion … admission to Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp is very expensive ($17 per person). While 2.5 mile boardwalk is impressive, AND I am an Audubon member, I really don’t think the price justifies the cost of admission … particularly if there are multiple people in your group. The cypress trees are truly majestic at Corkscrew, but I actually find the birding there much worse than at Six Mile Cypress Slough (Google Maps Link)  which is right in Fort Myers. Six Mile Cypress’ entrance fee is only the cost of your parking … depending upon how long you wish to stay … a couple dollars for your car. It is important to get to Six Mile Cypress EARLY in the morning before the crowds arrive. If one walks their boardwalk shortly after sunrise it will be just you, the birds and one or two other people. The boardwalks are impressive at either location and should be a part of any trip to southern Florida. My wife, a non birder, visited Six Mile Cypress with friends “in the afternoon” and came home raving about the beautiful birds!

Signs of the Northeast Minnesota Owl Irruption

Year 12

Given both this blog, and my volunteer work as a naturalist, I am getting lots of questions about the current owl irruption in northeastern Minnesota. With this post, I will try to let the Great Gray Owls answer those questions!

Where is the irruption taking place?

What are the backroads like in Northern Minnesota?

What should I do if I see an owl hunting a railroad right of way?

Will Rich Hoeg (the owner of this blog) share his private local owling locations?

What is the highway speed limit when I need to drive home?

If I get lost, how will I find my way?

If the owl’s answer to this last question is NOT obvious, follow the light house’s beacon!

All of these photographs were taken within the past two days. Rich would like to thank each and every owl which agreed to be part of the answer to your questions about the Northeastern Minnesota Owl Irruption of 2025.

I would like to correct “only” one answer given by an owl. Rich Hoeg will not give out his private owling locations. It is neat that many of you are coming from all around America to enjoy our special wilderness. Great Gray Owls are native to Northeastern Minnesota. However, this winter we have many more owls in our region … both locals and migrants. In my experience most of the migrants tend to start flying north around the 1st of March. Thus, plan trips to our area with that thought in mind.

On a closing note, this morning I was interviewed on Wisconsin Public Radio about owls in Northwestern Wisconsin and Northeastern Minnesota. If you would like to read a transcript of that interview, please browse to WPR. Unfortunately I do not believe the sound files of the interview are active anymore.