Tag Archives: MN North: Forest Hill Cemetery

Owlets at the Movies!

Year 8,

Before YouTube … Before DVD Players … Before VCR’s … there was Saturday Night at the Movies on TV (video link for email subscribers)(subscribers may wish to view this post via their browser … easier with all the movies … (Follow this link)

However, please accept my apologies as War Wagon starring John Wayne (watch video opening) has been preempted by the owlets. Thus …

Owlets in this morning’s Snow Squall (video link for email subscribers)

Owl Family huddled against 20F degree night (video link for email subscribers)

During this morning’s snow squall …

The Brown Creepers are migrating through (some will stay local)(quickest way to know you are looking at a creeper vs a nuthatch … nuthatches walk down a tree trunk … creepers go up)

The male Belted Kingfishers are back and waiting for spouses!

Owlets Growing!

Year 8,

My Great Horned Owlets are growing fast. About one week ago I could barely see them in the nest. Now, by 3:15 pm … long before sunset … both parents were hunting to satisfy their demands for food. I remember my own Mom claiming I was a bottomless pit when came to eating. The twins are similar, and always want to eat.

Momma Owl coming back from a hunt. Which way do you think the wind is blowing?

Guard Duty …

The other reason for the earlier than normal hunting may be our ugly weather. Today is finally dry without fog or high winds … much better hunting conditions.

This morning I took time off from the owls to check local ponds. The number of waterfowl is still not large, but I did enjoy seeing Mr. and Mrs. Bufflehead. They are an early migrant as they will nest near the Arctic Ocean.

Northeast Minnesota Spring Birding Migration

Year 8,

Although it was 14F at sunrise this morning, there are starting to be signs of spring migration. With that thought in mind, both for myself, and everyone else I compiled a spreadsheet of bird sightings / locations using seven years of my data from the months of April and May. You may download your PDF copies (no cost) immediately below the sample rows. The migration PDF’s have active web links to the appropriate blog post and Google Maps location. Each document has 160 sightings.

Sample Content (first ten rows sorted by date)

Date Bird Species Location
2-Apr Fox Sparrow Amity
6-Apr Common Magpie Sax-Zim Bog
6-Apr Hooded Merganser Sax-Zim Bog
6-Apr Trumpeter Swans Sax-Zim Bog
6-Apr Western Meadowlark Sax-Zim Bog
9-Apr Trumpeter Swans MacQuarrie Wetlands
9-Apr Snow Bunting Sand Lake Pine Forest
9-Apr Spruce Grouse Sand Lake Pine Forest
12-Apr Rough-Legged Hawk Sax-Zim Bog
12-Apr Snow Bunting Sax-Zim Bog

With that thought I visited some of my spring haunts this morning. Birds were scarce, but I did find a Red-Tailed Hawk couple establishing their territory, and a Ring-Billed Gull standing on the ice. Once we get a few warm days a few area ponds will start of have some open water (attracting early season ducks). Oh yes, I checked on my owl family this morning. The youngsters were well covered up by Mom given the cold weather.