I’ve spent a lot of time in Sax-Zim Bog over the past few days. The weather has been sunny, and the temperatures moderate (OF at sunrise rising to 25F). Given I always wear choppers and thermal underwear, I have been toasty warm on my extensive hikes. While the snow is not very deep in the woods (4 to 8 inches) which means owls are not hunting the roadsides (lesser snow depths at roadsides make for easier hunting), the light snow cover has made it much easier for me to bushwhack through the back country. Better yet, my tracks in the snow mean it is impossible to get lost. Remember, bog country is very flat and the terrain does not give many landmarks.
Here are just a few of the birds I’ve enjoyed, none of which were birded from my car.
White-Winged Crossbills
Northern Shrike
Black-Backed Woodpecker
and of course … the Northern Hawk Owl! (I now know this birds morning routine and favorite perches from 8 to 11 am)
Finally … the “far off Snowy Owl”. I never got closer than 400 yards to this bird, but these photographs are included because I DID NOT hike on private land. I know some recent visitors to the Bog have violated this rule. If you do not have permission from a landowner, even if the property is not posted with “no trespassing signs”, stay off! Farm land like the property show is obviously private.
I have been spending a lot of time over the past two weeks with this Duluth area Snowy Owl … waiting for an afternoon when it would come out to hunt before dark with bright sunny skies and no crows around. Jackpot!
My favorite Snowy Owl flight photograph. I LOVE the talons!
Perhaps you will prefer one of these two alternatives
Yesterday was a reunion of sorts, and for a while I did not believe the event would take place. Let me back up. Most people have favorite birds. For some folks it is a Cardinal or Baltimore Oriole due their flashes of color. There are some individuals who love owls, but normally their favorite seems to be the Great Gray or Snowy Owl. For me, it is the Northern Hawk Owl.
Having a Northern Hawk Owl (NHO) as a favorite bird can present difficulties, even when one lives in northern Minnesota. My region is at the southern edge of the Boreal Forest, which means although the NHO could live in my area year round, these owls normally live a touch north in Canada and wait for winter to fly south a few hundred miles and visit the Duluth area. Some years only one or two of these owls are seen across the entire continental United States. Such was the case during the winter of 2015/16, and thus my reunion was put on hold. During the winter of 2016/17 I had to drive 400 miles round trip from my home to the Big Bog for the reunion. I was thrilled when the two NHO’s I was watching decided to nest in northern Minnesota, but unfortunately by June their nesting attempts had failed. Regardless, it was fun to visit my owls during the warmer Spring and Summer months.
Last winter two Northern Hawk Owls’ decided to take up their winter residence only 6 miles from my home. I was in seventh heaven, and visited them many times per week. Thus, you can imagine I was thrilled when I heard reports for this winter that NHO’s had returned to Minnesota for the winter, and were only up in Sax-Zim Bog … 45 miles away by car. I actually serve as a volunteer naturalist in the Bog each winter. Tomorrow is our grand opening day for the winter!
Thus, yesterday along with my friend Jeff, we arrived at Sax-Zim before sunrise. After all, we had an owl to find. However, even though we heard the owl was definitely around, it eluded our efforts to find said bird. After four hikes back into the frozen bog over a half day’s search, it appeared my reunion with the Northern Hawk Owl was not slated to happen that day. However, after dropping Jeff off at his car so he could drive home to the Twin Cities, I decided to turn around and give it one more try. Eureka! I found my Northern Hawk Owl. For most of the next 45 minutes except for a short time, I had this owl to myself. My friend was actively hunting, and required me to make frequent trips into the Boreal Forest’s frozen bog to keep watching the hunt. I loved every minute of the reunion.
Here are a few family reunion photographs
And two other images from yesterday … Red-Breasted Nuthatch and Gray Jay
Finally, I finished up processing some photographs from last week when I hung out with Snowy at Sunset. They are cool owls, just not my favorite!
