Category Archives: Year 7

Birding Times Three!

Year 7, ,

Some mornings are better than others, but success comes from knowing your habitat. I hiked away from my house yesterday morning at 6:15 am shortly before sunrise. For the first morning in days, the skies were clear without fog … in short it was a great morning to spend some time with Hoot. My Great Horned Owl friends did not let me down, and I watched it hunt till at 7:15 am the owl decided sleep was its best use of time.

My next stop on my birding agenda was the wildflower garden at Hartley Nature Center. If you have such a garden near where you live, visit early in the morning on a calm cool day. Both the fragrances and the colors of the flowers will be delightful … seeing birds will be the icing on the cake. I had fun watching hummingbirds drinking nectar and warblers snatching bugs in nearby trees. At this time of the summer, the perennials are over five feet tall. Thus, just slowly walk through the plants. If you do not disturb the bees they will not disturb you! It is normal to have bees buzzing away within a foot or two of me.

My final stop was visiting Forest Hill Cemetery. I found two Kingfisher juveniles learning how to fish. I have often noted that cemetery ponds are a great place to bird. Quite often the local birds are a bit more used to people, and all the roads within a cemetery give you lots of places to drive slowly … your car becoming a roving blind. These Kingfishers were extremely tolerant of my presence. It’s not often when photographing this kind of bird that I am not at full telephoto zoom, but such was the case yesterday.

I finished up all three of these birding excursions by 9:30 am and was home by 10. It was a great morning … Birding Times Three! Finally, here are two birding outings from a few days past. In the first you are able to watch a video of my Great Horned Owl trying to “beat the heat”. I had not even seen an owl panting!

Beat the Heat … Great Horned Owl “panting” (email subscriber video link)

Storm Clouds Approaching (In the low light prior to thunderstorms, I often find my Great Horned Owls out and about. The risk is getting wet. Unlike me, the owls have no choice in the matter. Over the past three days I have been caught out in the forest during two storms. I just take cover and wait out the rain)

That’s all folks!

Boats and Birds

Year 7,

I think I got my wires crossed yesterday. I photographed boats at night, and owls during the middle of the day! Regardless after four days of fog, often dense, it was fantastic to have a perfectly clear sunny day.

An hour after sundown, I went over to the Duluth Port Terminal and photographed these two salties which were unloading windmill parts. Duluth is a transhipment point for windmill parts bound for all over the North Central states and Manitoba.

I was also very surprised to find my friend, Hoot, out hunting in the middle of the afternoon. Perhaps after four straight days and nights with for (often extremely dense), the owls success at hunting had been limited over the past few days. I guess Hoot was hungry!
“The Look” you have when hunting squirrels in a pine grove and the darn flicker just won’t shut up. (if not for the Northern Flicker squawking in alarm … I never would have found the owl … thus, not a mob, but just one bird led me to the owl)
Some more images of my Great Horned Owl friend from yesterday afternoon.
 
In closing, last night the young owls began begging for food from their parents only 30 minutes after sunset. Normally they don’t start demanding to be fed till 60 minutes after sundown. I really wonder if the fog made for difficult hunting.  Regardless, the owlets need to hone their own hunting skills. The nights of getting much food from the parent owls are extremely limited.

Fog Bounding Birding: Hoot & Friends!

Year 7

Here at the Head of the Lakes (Duluth, Minnesota) we have settled into a weather pattern caused by Lake Superior’s cool waters, and warm air being blown North from the Gulf. The end result is fog which often does not clear to afternoon (sometimes not at all during the day). We northerners don’t mind the fog too much, as we know the alternative is hot steamy temperatures found even just 30 miles away from the big lake. My daily bike rides are now in beautiful 57F to 65F weather.

Fog does not mean a lack of birding opportunities. In fact, it can be the exact opposite. Assuming the weather is not too damp, the birds will be out feeding and normally closer to the ground (fog can often be thicker a bit higher in elevation). Thus, birds will come down more to ground level to escape the dampness found in the tree tops. This morning was one of those foggy days. I decided to see if my local owls would be somewhat out in the open. I knew they would like the dark light, and desire to get away from the constant dripping in the woods (fog condenses on leaves and branches). Although it really was not raining, during my birding hike I felt like a constant light drizzle. The fog was essentially condensing on me.

Jackpot! I took these images around 8 am, and had a fun time with my owls. I did not even know the second owl was nearby till the owl I had been watching for fifteen minutes flew over to join its sibling. I also found some of Hoot’s friends. In short, fogbound birding can be a great time, but be prepared to get damp!

Two of the Three Great Horned Owl Juveniles

A short video while I was watching the first owl. You can hear the dripping of the fog off the trees. Yes, I was getting damp! (video link for email subscribers)

Individual Owl Portraits

While walking home, I discovered my Pileated Woodpecker family working on a dead tree. I saw them fly off in the direction of my home. I found it humorous  that when I got home the Pileateds were snacking upon my suet. They are able to reach my house muck quicker by flying. I have to take a circuitous route which involves a footbridge at a waterfall. (pileated woodpecker video links for email subscribers … video 1 … video 2)