Owl Notes … the Irruption and Locals

Year 12,

The Owl Irruption is changing. While there are still Great Gray Owls in the Duluth / Two Harbors region, the numbers are down dramatically. The days of seeing an owl on almost every sign post and pole seems to be over. I suspect this change was caused by just too much hunting pressure, and the Great Gray Owls needed to move on because the local meadows and wetlands were hunted out.

In addition, an owl adventure that began on exciting high note on Sunday morning has ended poorly. I received a phone call at 9:15 am describing an owl which I believed needed help. I found the Great Gray, hand captured and delivered the bird to Wildwoods Rehabilitation Center in Duluth. It was interesting once more to have an owl, which was secure in a box, riding next to me in my Subaru. Unfortunately the owl did not survive past Monday. While the bird was not injured, it was starving and could not be saved. As a fyi, I do not photograph birds that I am involved with rescuing. Taking time out for photography would be wrong when the animal needs my help.

Nature must have known I needed a pick me up after the downer of the owl’s death. While quite cold yesterday, during a hike I discovered my local Great Horned Owl’s nest. Les and Amy are back for a seventh year nesting near my home. Here is a photo of Les keeping watch over his lady love. For the time being I will not be posting images of the nest to protect Amy. As a reminder, this is the time of year to take walks after sunset in the dark … listen to your local owl’s hooting … triangulate the sound … find the nest. The Poppa Owls will always perch very near (as in only yards away in a different tree). By triangulating the the hooting you can really zero in on the nest area. I then return after sunrise when I am better able to see.

And Amy … image taken two evenings before she nested.

The local Snowy Owls which winter here on the Arctic Riviera must have also decided to help cheer me up. An hour before sunset yesterday I found not one but two Snowys.

Snowy #1

Snowy #2

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!