Tag Archives: MN North: Amity

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.

Love Struck Owls!

Year 11
The “Look of Love!”
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This face yesterday inspired almost non-stop love songs. My male Great Horned Owl is besotted! Even during the middle of the day he hooted his desire and devotion. I think he is about to get “lucky”!
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Welcome to Year #6 of the Amity Owls. Over the past five years I have watched Les and Amy (as in Les for the “Lester River” and Any for “Amity Creek”) raise 10 owlets. They are devoted parents.
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This morning I went out hiking again before sunrise this morning. I was hoping my love-struck male Great Horned Owl would start a duet with his sweetheart, which I might video and thus get the song. However, Poppa Owl just half-heartedly hooted a bit, and led me around the forest. Next I hoped the owl might allow me a photograph of it silhouetted against the rising crescent moon. Nope, once again. My owl hid in the top of a white pine and refused to fly to the top of a dead tree like yesterday. Thus, I listened to his occasional hoots and photographed the moon by itself. On the plus side, I did NOT fall on all the refreeeze!

Pre-Dawn Love Hoot!

Year 11
This is the time of year to start listening for your local owls up here in the Northland. These two Great Horned Owls were hooting their love on the northern edge of Duluth during a duet 35 minutes before sunrise this morning. The sky colors are accurate … we actually had clear skies before dawn for the first time in a looonnng time this morning.
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The male is on the right in the photo, and you are clearly able to see that it is smaller than the female. Great Horned Owls are the first owls to nest (within the next few days to a bit later), and the other species of owls will soon follow. This year’s mild winter may result in earlier nesting than most years. The reason owls nest in the winter is it allows their young to gain proficiency at hunting, which is a difficult task, as other animals and birds (their prey) have their young in the Summer.