Tag Archives: MN North: Amity

Give the Gift of Owls! (Children’s Picture Books Black Friday Special)

Year 10

Starting now through midnight on Black Friday, November 24 (special price extended) … Give the Gift of Owls this Holiday Season at a special price! My children’s owl picture books are on sale. For $41, a 23% discount, which INCLUDES sales tax and shipping, you will receive all three of my owl children’s picture books:

  • Do You Hoot?
  • Smokey Finds a Rainbow!
  • Snowy’s Search for Color!

Purchase via PayPal (use any major credit card, no account required). Remember, you may download at no charge a PDF of each story. Use this link to purchase.

One may ONLY order one set of the three books. The price of $41 is a 23% discount from the normal price of $53.10. If you live in the Duluth area, and would like to pick the books up in person at my home, I will refund the $5 shipping fee. All orders will be shipped on Monday, December 4th.

More information about each book (online extras about each species of owl). Remember, you may download at no charge a PDF of each story. Use this link to purchase.

Do You Hoot? – The “true life experiences about a young Great Horned Owlet as it grows up in the forest across from the author’s home.

Smokey Finds a Rainbow! – A story about a young Great Gray Owl, and its explorations through the northern forest in search of a rainbow.

Snowy’s Search for Color! – A story about a young Snowy Owl’s and its search for color.

Sunday Night at the Movies … Minnesota Style

Year 10, ,

How many of you remember the days before one could even rent VCR tapes? In my youth during the early 1960’s this meant gathering around the TV as a family to watch “Sunday Night at the Movies”! Everyone hoped the two networks (CBS and NBC) had picked a film the entire family would love. Here in Duluth we had only two TV stations (ABC was still somewhere off in the future). Heck, our city at the time did not even have a McDonalds.

Thus, I bring you 365 Days of Birds at the Movies … on Sunday night (at least that is when I am blogging). (Image courtesy of FreePik.com)

Here is a short YouTube clip of the NBC Sunday Night Marquee Opener from the early 1970’s (video link for email subscribers).

Here are my movies, which started with an unexpected session the North Shore Duluth Scenic Railroad’s Steam Engine! I was hiking / birding in the woods near my home yesterday afternoon when I thought: “Is that a steam engine whistle?” Yup! The North Shore Scenic Railroad was out testing #332. The train was over three miles away from me when I first heard it. I upped my hiking pace … hurried home … and went to find a steam engine one mile away from my house!

And Now the Movies! (all videos taken during the last seven days)

North Shore Scenic Railroad Steam Engine #332 (video link for email subscribers)

Ring-Necked Pheasant near Sax-Zim Bog (video link for email subscribers)

Steam at Sunrise over Lake Superior (video link for email subscribers)

Boreal Forest Bog Tour

Year 10, ,

As noted with yesterday’s post about Surf City USA on Lake Superior, the weather up here in the Northland has been horrible. During these super poor birding conditions, I often go exploring. Sometimes I find my explorations have really bad potential (like yesterday NW of Sax-Zim Bog), but occasionally I find routes where the habitat looks grand even if I don’t see many birds. Two days ago I explored over toward Aitkin and a Boreal Forest Bog Area which Kim Eckert describes in his Birder’s Guide to Minnesota. Before Sax-Zim Bog became famous, this was where folks went in search of Great Gray Owls … County 18 and Pietz’s Road. Obviously I had to first get over to the area, and my mapped route travels along Boreal Forest Bog (County Rd #8) and the Mississippi River  (Great River Road / Hwy 10). In better conditions, I suspect this could be a very good bird outing. One could shorten the drive from the Duluth area a bit by taking US #2, but I have never seen much along the stretch from Hwy 53 to Floodwood. Regardless, here is my map.

I have seen a few birds over the past week, but the pickings have been poor.

Wet Birds (Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Ruffed Grouse, Bald Eagle, Spruce Grouse)