Owling Angst – Pheasant Finds!

Year 10

Will the owls ever let me see them again?! October was a horrible month for owling. While I used my extensive knowledge about “the wise ones”, I found nary an owl in October. Two mornings ago I arrived on McDavitt Road in Sax-Zim Bog almost an hour before sunrise. Conditions were perfect … dark … an almost full moon to spy a hunting owl … light winds … and cold, 11F (cold conditions require an owl to hunt and eat more often). I knew these conditions would be prevalent the prior evening, which is why I found myself up in the Bog long before sunrise. Better yet, the juvenile Great Grays I had seen in August and September should now not get fed much by their parents. The young, still learning hunters given their failure rate at hunting, should be out searching for voles a larger percentage of the day.

When God gives you lemons, make lemonade! After 90 minutes of seeing nary an owl, I threw in the towel and left the forest and took a circular route home which would optimize my search for non forest birds. I quickly found quite a few red-tailed hawks, but the real discovery of the morning was a flock of ring-necked pheasant.

While cruising the area I spied the pheasants down in a roadside ditch … a shady ditch. Given the temperature had only reached 18F I knew the birds would eventually climb up to the road to forage. I waited for 20 minutes, and my patience was rewarded. Seeing pheasant in northeastern Minnesota is actually quite a treat. Our habitat is not vary pheasant friendly. The ring-necks eventually walked quite close to my “car blind”.

There actually is a key take-away from my story. Adjust your birding focus if success is not presenting itself. I moved habitats and birding focus. Apparently my local owls, given all my October owling searches, were laughing at me last night. While Molly and I were watching grandkids trick-or-treat down in the Twin Cities,  my locals were hooting up a storm in my own yard at 6:30 pm. My Haikubox kept sending me notifications, and the recordings were loud and  clear. Uff dah!

The Ring-Necked Pheasant of the South Bog

Stony Point Bald Eagles

Year 10

I had time for a quick bird before church yesterday morning, and I focused upon the North Shore near my home. Remember I said October is “big bird month” for migration through the Duluth area? While these two could be resident eagles, in the 12 miles between my home and Stony Point I saw six eagles. That section of shore definitely does not support that many eagles. Thus, some has to be migrants. However I am thinking this pair must be our locals. They issued a strong protect when some other eagles overflew the area.

Snow Buntings Herald the start of Winter

Year 10,

Most folks think winter starts on December 21st. People who pay attention to the “meteorological calendar” might say December 1st, but individuals who live in northern Minnesota would be excused if they said about November 1st! Yesterday I was wearing shorts for a hike in the woods (47F and some sun), but today required a heavy jacket gloves and pants. Future weather forecasts have lows in the mid 20’s, and highs in the mid 30’s.

The blast of cold weather with strong NW winds, and even a sprinkling of snow on the ground brought snow buntings south with a vengeance. The number of these small birds hanging around is amazing … from flocks to well over 300 birds to just a few. By the time the snow buntings reach northern Minnesota from their summer homes in the Arctic, they have significantly less white plumage. Hopefully I will see some late this winter on their way back north. They are little white puffballs. When I see snow buntings I know that this season’s migration is over in terms of birds which “pass through”. The only remaining birds to now arrive are those Arctic birds which will winter on the Arctic Riviera (Duluth area)

Anyhow … some pics of buntings from the last two days

Some unexpected sunshine yesterday afternoon

This morning with snow on the ground.