Category Archives: Year 9

Signs of Spring??

Year 9

It was -22F on my car thermometer this morning as I headed out shortly before sunrise. The conditions could only be described as frigid. This cold morning I wondered whether I might be able to find some owls along Scenic 61 trying to get the benefit of what little thermal warmth the golden orb might offer (no!). I did see Pine Grosbreaks and Bohemian Waxwings, but not in terms of photo opportunities.

Why “Signs of Spring”? In the pre-dawn darkness this morning my local Great Horned Owls were hooting their mutual love. I know from past year’s experience the owls will nest within two weeks. In addition, a few Horned Larks and Snow Buntings are already making their way back north. If you find some open ground scraped clean by a snowplow, it is not unusual to find these birds near the Superior Airport. Thus, even in the deep of winter, if you know where to look or listen, there is hope!

Having said that it was just darn cold this morning. Here are three images I snapped shortly after sunup. The fishermen are hardier than me. It was -19F at the time I took the photographs, and I was not particularly interested in hiking. My sojourn outside will be this afternoon as the mercury soars to about -8F.

Two Harbors Breakwater (the haze or fog is sea smoke … mist that rises due to the water being much warmer than the surrounding air)

Spark Birds and Winter Gloves

Year 9

This post is a potpourri of stuff. While driving north back to Minnesota, Molly and I often listened to podcasts. Our favorites tended to be How I Built This and This American Life. Yesterday afternoon I learned about “Spark Birds” via This American Life. I was not familiar with the term, but basically a Spark Bird is the bird that helped you personally get hooked on bird. A Spark Bird need not be exotic. What bird was your Spark Bird?

For me the bird was a Blue Jay. While hiking in the woods as a young child I heard a noise which I could not even identify as even being a bird. The sound was not a typical “jay song”; perhaps it was the “musical queedle-queddle” described by my IBird Pro app… Regardless, the sound made this young boy hike deep into a thicket where I discovered the source of the song, a Blue Jay. I was now hooked on birding.

My Spark Bird: The Blue Jay

In the Spark Bird episode of This American Life, the famous birder Noah Strycker, talks about his Spark Bird … a 13 minute interview about his love of Black Vultures! The National Wildlife Federation also has a neat article from late last Summer about folks and their Spark Birds.

Now the other part of this post … finding warm winter gloves. A number of you suggested battery powered heated gloves which I tried a few years ago. When the heating system failed on a cold day, I vowed to only use natural materials. I may be overly cautious. I’m sure these types of gloves have improved.

I also received an email from Robert H. who recommended I read a recent post by Bryan Hansel about Winter gloves. Somehow I had missed Bryan’s recent post n gloves, but interestingly enough I already have a pair of gloves on order which are reviewed by Bryan. If you don’t know Bryan Hansel, he is a fantastic photographer who lives up in the Grand Marais area. Should you ever want to increase your photography skills, Bryan teaches both “in person” and “online” photography seminars. Check out his web site.

Finally, like myself, Bryan lives in northeastern Minnesota. He understands severely cold weather. Most of the reviews for products on Amazon and other websites are well intentioned, but from people who don’t truly experience super cold weather. In NE Minnesota it is likely that at some point in the winter the mercury will plunge to -30F or worse (not including chill factor).

Once again, What was your Spark Bird and Why? Leave a comment.

Owls: The Long and the Short of It!

Year 9,

What a difference a few days makes, and 1,500 miles! Sunday afternoon while still in Fort Myers, after the storm clouds cleared, I drove over to the Pelican Ballfields in Cape Coral in the afternoon. A few Burrowing Owls decided to come out and investigate including this couple. Actually I did not even know these two birds were “an item” till the larger of the two owls (female I assume) ran ten yards over to stand with its mate. This movement above ground let me begin to understand that their burrow was at least ten yards wide underground, with multiple entrances. It would be cool to see how extensive their burrow is underground, but not something I will ever learn or see.

Cape Coral Burrowing Owls

Black-Vultures fly low overhead, and definitely attract the owls’ attention.

Monday morning it was time to head back north. We are now safely stopped at my son’s house near Milwaukee and seeing my new grandchild again. This morning at sunrise I went out in an attempt to find a Long-Eared Owl winter roosting thicket. Given advance knowledge, I found three Long-Ears. Birding was quite different from Florida given the temperature was only 3F. Oh wow, were my hands cold. Even with winter gloves, I just could not keep my hands warm. I have tried many different gloves over the years, but have never discovered any which work for temperatures below zero. I would love to hear in the comments about what others use to keep their hands warm. Please notice in these images that the owls are sitting in the sunlight. As temperatures drop towards zero and below, owls often sit in the sun / out in the open during the day … protected from any wind but able to feel the thermal warmth.

Milwaukee Long-Eared Owls (3 unique birds … 1 male and 2 sleeping females)