Category Archives: Year 3

Crow Attacking Snowy Owl at Dawn (video)

Year 3

20 minutes before sunrise, I found my first Snowy Owl of the winter! A few minutes after sunrise, the local crow population also discovered Snowy. However, the male owl defended himself well, and refused to be forced off his perch. Thus, I had a fantastic time early this morning and spent 1 & 1/2 hours with this cool bird. I hope you enjoy a few of my photos, plus the video. In total I took 416 images this morning. Hopefully this Snowy will establish a winter territory where I found it … which would mean over two months of Snowy Owl watching / enjoyment.

The short video of the crows attacking the Snowy Owl is at the bottom of the post.

Attack!

Mr. Snowy twenty minutes before sunrise

Getting the evil eye from a Snowy Owl!

White Fluffball

Hanging Out After Sunrise … Crows are Gone!

A video of the crows attacking the Snowy Owl

Christmas Aurora Borealis!

Year 3,

The heavens were filled with Christmas magic last night! Although Lady Aurora was shy and did not dance, she did show me the “green glow” at 4 am!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Click or press upon the image to view the Christmas magic at full size.

Old Vermilion Trail just north of Duluth, Minnesota
(iso = 1,600, aperture = 2.0, exposure =15 seconds)

Sax-Zim Bog Ski!

Year 3

Here’s an idea for anyone visiting the Bog and the Welcome Center this winter. This morning I set down cross-country ski tracks as noted via the Google Maps screenshot. One skis deep into the Bog via the drainage ditches. One may wax skis and put on your boots at the Welcome Center (open daily at 10:00 am till early March).

The ski itself is very easy … zero hills. Being a Duluth native I am well versed in skiing up North Shore Lake Superior streams to access areas not reachable in the summer. I decided to take that knowledge and apply it to the Bog. I will try to keep the tracks set through the winter. I saw plenty of birds during my ski … mostly Grey Jays and Chickadees. Sometime in the next few weeks I will ski in around sunrise as opposed to today (around noon).

Anyhow, I wanted to encourage “skiing the bog”. Many of you travel from a distance to visit Sax-Zim Bog; thus it’s nice to get out of the car. One covers distance much quicker on skis than on snowshoes. On my next ski I will head “south” at the T-Junction (dotted yellow line). Hope to see you at the Bog, and maybe even on the ski trail (I am a volunteer naturalist at the Bog).