Les, the Great Horned Owl, Poses for Super Monopod

Background, Year 11

Super Monopod has returned! It is new and improved, as I have solved the pendulum problem (i.e. the camera may swing at the top of a fully extended super monopod).

  • Question: You may ask, what is “Super Monopod?”
  • Answer: A ranger approved manner to get your camera higher.

Read my original Super Monopod post and review … it shows initial results (photos). I even showed my setup to a park ranger who very much approved … assuming one does not get to close and push / flush birds. As a fyi … Les never moved all day! While one could use a drone to get a camera higher in the air, it is obvious that drones disturb birds and should NEVER be used.

The key to solving my pendulum problem was purchasing an inexpensive ball club head which allows me to tilt my camera on the top of my Super Monopod. Thus, at an extended reach of the poles, I no longer need to tilt the extremely tall monopod. I also use the ball club head with my Amazon Basics monopod (very light). I control my Sony A6300 at the top of the Super Monopod via remote control using a Sony App my phone.

Les, the Great Horned Owl (pics taken yesterday under horrible photographic conditions)

Two pictures of Super Monopod V1 (w/o the new ball club head)

Greenwood Creek Bog Bird Feeders Update

Year 11

While the new location of the bird feeders still is not wildly active, the trend is very positive and it appears this will be their permanent home. Within 24 hours of my placing the feeders and scattering sunflower seeds, the local grouse population had discovered the offerings. As a fyi, over the past few months I have seen many, many roughed and spruce grouse very near this location, both on the trail (Forest Road #813) and out on the highway (Lake County #2).

Yesterday morning, it was a treat for me to discover two different groups of birders at the feeders. Obviously I am successfully getting the location of the feeders out to both birds and humans! Here are all the details about the feeders including GPS locations, maps, hikes and more.

I enjoyed watching some Black-Backed Woodpeckers during a hike from the feeders this past Sunday. It was crazy warm … 52F in early February in the Boreal Forest. While I enjoyed the warm sun, this kind of weather is actually dangerous for the habitat and hopefully we will quickly see returns to much colder conditions.

Here are a few of my Black-Backed Woodpecker images. The couple were about 800 yards down the trail.  Before I move on to the photos two final comments:

  • Included you will also find Lynx tracks. A family of these gorgeous cats are obviously in the area
  • Two owl boxes are on nearby trees. One box is about 300 yards down the bird feeder trail on the right (about ten yards off the trail). The other box is about one mile down the main trail (forest road #813) on the right … where the bog begins. I suspect the US Forest Service put these boxes up some years ago. Both boxes are in good condition, and appear to be focused towards either Saw-whets or Boreal Owls; however Boreals have not been known to have nested in NE Minnesota now for over ten years.

For this video of the Black-Backed, I have slowed the speed down by a factor of two (video link for email subscribers)

And finally two cell phone pics from my hike … the Greenwood Creek Bog and the Lynx tracks.

Owls Lend a Helping Hand! (Talon)

Year 11

Okay … I just had to move a comment from one of my readers, Ray, and my response to an actual post!  🙂

  • Ray commented: A little take on Aesop’s “A Country Mouse and a Town Mouse”? 365’s forays into the bogs of northern Minnesota to track down “country” owls provide quite a contrast to Flaco the escapee “town” owl from NYC Central Park Zoo who is enjoying his freedom for the last year on the island of Manhattan. Apparently he “spends his nights hooting atop water towers, and preying upon the city’s abundant rats” … which brings to mind an interesting solution to NYC’s rat problem. (link to an article about Flaco from the USA Today provided)
  • I responded: Down in Southern Florida in the middle of the state on all the sugar plantations, the farmers put up many, many boxes to help Barn Owls nest. The end result is the Barn Owls have very much taken up residence on all the surrounding farms and have dramatically reduced the rodent problem … and loss of cane sugar!!! Perhaps NYC needs to get smart like Florida?!
  • And here is a web page link to the Florida program … the Florida Crystal Owls (worth reading). Their program is 15 years old.

Of course, for a post of this nature I need to feature my own local owls. Here is a photo of Les (Poppa Owl) I took about two hours ago keeping watch over his domain. Amy is very near by. Notice how the Great Horned Owl is sort of asleep … one eye open … one eye closed.