Owl Irruption Update … Down on the Farm Great Gray!

Year 12

Many folks have asked me if the owl irruption is over in NE Minnesota. The answer is “yes” and “no”. The huge influx of owls on the North Shore of Lake Superior has been over for some time. However, this irruption was originally a southward movement irruption … owls moving south but as they hunted out areas they ran smack dab into Lake Superior. Owls do not like flying over large bodies of water, and thus there was a traffic jam of owls along the shore of the big lake. Eventually most of these owls worked their way down the shore past Duluth (a few staying to hunt good habitat) and spread out across northern Minnesota. There were also lots of owls that just flew directly south and never smacked into Lake Superior.

All these Great Gray Owls are now working their way back north. Some will choose to become year round residents in the Boreal forest & bogs of northeastern Minnesota and join our resident year round Great Grays. Some owls will work their way back up to the border country with Canada and beyond … into eastern Manitoba and NW Ontario.

This morning I found a few Great Grays well away from the North Shore and Sax-Zim Bog. They seemed to be following traditional spring migration paths which other bird species also utilize. Thus, with hard work and research there are still more owls around than normal, but the days of a Great Gray Owl on every other Scenic 61 signpost are gone!

I hope you enjoy my “Down on the Farm” Great Gray Owl photographs. Each farm was near good owl habitat, and remember … in the winter these of owls eat meadow voles.

Great Gray hunting from an Antique Hay Mower

Sticking the Landing! The owl eventually dropped straight down and caught a vole next to the mower

Great Gray hunting a farm field next to the forest

Greenwood Creek Bird Feeders Update

Year 12,

Actually my update is on birds that love the habitat around the feeders, but never actually visit the feeders.

  1. American Three-Toed Woodpeckers are often being seen first thing in the morning just a bit after sunrise. They like to use the dead trees right near the bird feeders for drumming. I saw one Three-Toed yesterday, and heard another drumming nearby to the south in response. It seems like the best chance to see this rare species is first thing in the morning on calm, sunny days. The woodpeckers are starting to drum.
  2. Two Spruce Grouse were gritting up out on Lake Country 2 within 600 yards of the feeder’s parking area.

If you wish to visit the feeders arriving early at the feeders is a good idea, both because the birds are more active and the deep snow pack will be frozen solid. Yesterday it was 12F just 45 minutes after sunrise when I arrived, but the temperature rose to 37F within two hours. Hiking even on the snowmobile trail is easy while the everything is rock hard, but as the temperatures become warmer the trail gets mushy. No snowshoes are needed to walk the snowshoe trail.

Greenwood Creek Spruce Grouse

One final Snowy Owl (seen the evening before in Superior, Wisconsin)

Color Craziness!

Year 12

It has been a long winter of muted colors in northern Minnesota, but during my trip to meet my latest granddaughter, I found color! Over the past 24 hours I have enjoyed birding hikes in two Seattle area parks, Marymoor and Yellow Lake Park. Better yet I have been able to wear shorts and a light sweater.

This morning’s sunrise expedition was in search of one very specific bird species (Red-Breasted Sapsucker), which is always dangerous as success has a low probability potential. However, Red came through for me. While the females have not returned north, the males were actively trying to pick and defend territories. I found four individual sapsuckers att Marymoor Park.

Given the cool morning and the lack of a bug hatch, I was surprised to find two male Tree Swallows. However, the best territory goes to the earliest returning guys who were having a stretch on a cool morning.

Over at Yellow Lake the local males were busy trying to impress the ladies.

Ring-Necked Ducks

Wood Duck (male)