Tag Archives: MN North: Duluth

Migration Madness: Great Gray Owl

Year 12

Migration is in full force in the Northland, but you must know where to go birding. Up the shore and inland from Lake Superior does not yet have much action as the lakes, ponds, streams and rivers are still iced over. In addition 35 miles inland from Two Harbors one still finds snow on the ground (and inland from Silver Bay, Tofte, Grand Marais, etc.)

However, if you avoid the deep Boreal Forest there is lots of migration action. The Forest Hill Cemetery ponds in Duluth’s Woodland neighborhood are partially ice free, and migrating ducks are finding this limited open water. Before church this morning I had fun at the ponds (expect to see images).

Another favorite drive is going north on US #53 … then west on Hwy #133 to Meadowlands (southern part of Sax-Zim Bog) and then continue west on Hwy #133 to Wawina. In Wawina load directions to the Willowsippi Wildlife Management area, but drive across US #2 to the dirt road directly opposite Wawina. Let Google Maps update and drive the direct roads till you meet up with Mn #65 to cross the Mississippi River at Jacobsen. Your directions will take you down the Great River Road till you turn away from the river at Cty #18. See the high level map immediately below. This is a great Mississippi River Flyway Birding Excursion with lots of fantastic habitat.

Now on to the owl migration madness! Remember this winter’s owl irruption? Many of those owls are working their way back to the Boreal Forest. For the same reasons that the Hawk Ridge moves their spring count to West Skyline Drive because hawks and eagles while heading north channel though this area, the owls often use the same funnel. For the past several weeks Great Gray Owls have often been seen on Haines Road, Arlington Road and Observation Road. The owls hunt the tall grasses. However, unlike in the winter, these birds do not stick around long … perhaps a second day in the same area but most move further north quickly.

I have the privilege to watch a Great Gray Owl hunt for well over an hour in this area yesterday afternoon. I actually left the owl, not vice versa. Here are a few pics from yesterday. Make certain you all see the final image of this post … a ChatGPT artificial intelligence special … created by me!

Great Gray Owl in Duluth

Note: In the two photographs taken while the owl was on the ground, the Great Gray did catch something which appeared to be larger than a vole. It stayed on the ground and ate its prey which was on the ground (I could not see the prey). Great Grays tend to lift voles they catch up and swallow them whole.

And now the ChatGPT special image. Some of you may have seen the efforts of many people who have uses this service to create “toy action figures” of themselves. I decided … why not?! Friday evening I watched a YouTube video and learned how to create “Rich the Owler” (not sold in any store … sorry)

Anyhow … enjoy migration from “Rich the Owler”!

Birding the Arctic Riviera in NE Minnesota

Year 12, ,

I had already planned on using this title, Arctic Riviera, the focus of my next post. After all, the temperature fell to -34F (not windchill) this morning as I headed out long before sunrise. My goal was to find Pine Grosbeaks, which are a MUCH more difficult find this year than Great Gray Owls (go figure). Yes, Pine Grosbeaks are staying up north in Canada due to a banner Boreal forest food crop, while Great Gray Owls have pressed south in almost record numbers (joining our native Great Grays).

At my first Pine Grosbeak stop on a remote dirt road, I put the passenger front window down to listen for these finches. I easily recognize their call, but nada. Upon attempting to raise the window, nothing happened. Remember, the current air temperature was -34F. Repeated attempts to raise the window failed, including the window reprogramming trick I learned years ago for Subarus. In the end the window went up a few inches but then refused to budge further. I suspect my car did not like the severe cold.

Time out … often in this blog I have talked about the need for emergency kits. In addition to extra car keys, I carry extra warm clothes including choppers (warm mittens), a towing cable, a bow saw, jumper cables, and now a self jumping kit. The warm clothes came in handy as I needed to drive the almost 50 miles home at highway speed with the windows open. Even with the heater on it was a chilling experience.

Thus, I talk about birding the Arctic Riviera. Lake Superior’s North Shore / Forest is the riviera for many Boreal and Tundra Birds. Leading me to express how much fun I had yesterday with two difference owls:

  1. I visited the Two Harbors Great Gray Owls and had fun photographing them moments after day break with both the lighthouse and sea smoke in the images! This is a true trifecta of three items into one photograph, and Sea Smoke only forms when the difference between Lake Superior’s surface water (just above 32F and the air temperature … well below zero … is extreme)
  2. Yesterday afternoon I found a new Snowy Owl … its location known only to me! During this owl irruption, it has been difficult to have a “private viewing” with an owl. Eventually I will share the location with a few good birding friends, but for the moment it was just Snowy and me!
  3. Both of these owls are visitors who are enjoying the Arctic Riviera and came from “Up North”.

Rich’s Snowy Owl (I have no idea what the Snowy Owl saw in the final image, but the hunt was on!)

Great Gray Owl, Sea Smoke and a Lighthouse

Amity Great Horned Owls Demand Equal Time!

Year 11,

Les and Amy are upset! After all they sing for me every night … a regular hoot fest. As we keep a window cracked open every night, I often hear the owls right from my own bed. Even though the mercury dipped to -13F last night, the famous pair sang while I listened all warm and snuggled up in my bed. Here is a 30 second sound clip I recorded a few mornings ago. The low sound in between hoots is actually Amity Creek, which given it was almost ice covered the sound was definitely just a quiet babbling brook (video/sound link for email subscribers)

Why were my local owls upset? They knew I had come home after photographing the “white owl!”. Yup, There are a couple of Snowy Owls in the Duluth area already this winter, and I quite often find one or two.

Snowy Owl Starting the Evening Hunt

Finally, I performed some format edits / updates very early this morning to the PDF of Northeastern Minnesota Birding Locations. The new vile (version 6) was uploaded and went live at 6 am CST. If you have the prior version (see file name), you may wish to download a new copy. There were no content changes. I have found reading the PDF works best in landscape mode on my phone.