My daughter’s plan was to visit us today … arriving up from the Twin Cities around 9:45 am. Thus, naturally I thought that meant there was time to go birding at Sax-Zim Bog before she arrived. I left home at 5:25 am, and the Bog did not disappoint. Predators like to nest or have their young early in the year to make their youngster’s huge appetites correspond to when other animals and birds have their young.

I found another Great Gray Owl hunting well past sunrise. I suspect it is now hunting for two adult owls … itself and its mate which is back on the nest. Thus, the two Great Grays I have found in dramatically different parts of Sax-Zim now gives me a good idea where of the vicinity of two owl nests.

With respect to Red Fox, their young were born some time ago, and the fox kits are starting to come out and play. Apparently foxes like the same forest region as one of the owls. The Red Fox and Great Gray were seen and photographed quite near one another! Wherever you live it is time to invest in searches which will pay dividends in 6 to 8 weeks. Days following stormy weather (like yesterday) are always a smart time to head into the outdoors. Predators are likely to be hungry after a forced day of fasting.

It was  quite windy earlier this week, and when Tuesday morning was forecast to be calm and overcast … hopefully with no rain, I trekked over to Sax-Zim Bog. Not many returning migrants were yet around with the exception of Sandhill Cranes which I saw many places. One of my bigger surprises was finding a huge flock of evening grosbeaks … mixed sexes. I would have though these finches would have returned deeper into the Boreal Forest in preparation for the breeding season, but the grosbeaks were not in any hurry to end their winter patterns.

Later in the morning, I stumbled across a Great Gray Owl in an unusual location hunting long into the daylight hours. The owl even put up with small amounts of drizzle. I watched the Great Gray hunt for over 75 minutes with nary a car or other person present.

Here is my first view of the owl … however within 10 minutes it flew over to hunt only 20 yards from where I was standing!

Great Gray Owl Hunting

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