Tag Archives: MN North: Amity

Owlet Update: Days 39 to 43

The Great Horned Owlets (and their parents) have now moved quite a distance from the nest. I have to search hard to find the owl family, and I am not always successful. The youngsters have become proficient flyers, and with that hunting lessons are now beginning. In fact, early this morning the owl family visited my yard at 4:30 am. I could hear the parents hooting, and the youngsters begging. The lesson of the morning was … hunt bird feeders! Yup, I know from experience that the Great Horned Owl parents, Les and Amy, very much know about my feeders and hunt them frequently! This lesson needed to be taught to the next generation, but ultimately they will have to find their own feeders!

Here are some images taken from Days 39 to 43 of the owlet’s lives bringing us through this past Monday.

Day 39 (20 Minutes after Sunset)

Day 41 (30 minutes before sunset)

Day 42 (Mother’s Day … May 12th! … at sunrise)

Day 43 (Mom guards from below … very unusual)

Boreal Bird Migration

I have spent the early hours of the last three mornings well north of Two Harbors in the Superior National Forest both on Stoney River Forest Road and the Greenwood Bog in addition to other places. The birds are returning to the northern forests, even some of the bug eaters (normally the latest migrants). I have commented about Stoney River Forest Road, but briefly the road was used for a fire block when the Greenwood Forest Fire was expanding three years ago. The west side of the road is now a meadow or bog loved by wildlife.

You will NOT find the southern end of this 19 mile long logging road on Google Maps, but this blog post of mine has GPS coordinates. Better yet when snow is not on the ground, this is a road easily driven by two wheel drive vehicles. All I know is over three mornings I saw a number of owls, a huge selections of hawks, and spruce grouse. This road about 35 minutes north of Two Harbors is worth birding. In all three excursions, I saw 2 cars on Sunday, but then nary a vehicle the next two days. Peace and serenity reigns on this road.

A few images from the past few days. The Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks have been visiting my yard in huge numbers. Everything else is up in the Superior National Forest.

Stoney River Road Spruce Grouse (video link for email subscribers)

Lake County #2 Broad-Winged Hawk