I drove over to Sax-Zim Bog yesterday to end 2020 in terms of birding. My target birds in this order were: Evening Grosbeaks and Pine Grosbeaks. Blue Jays were not even on my radar … too common! It just shows if photography is your goal, you have to “go with the flow”. My photo opps for either kind of grosbeak were limited (know where to go now), but did 5 blue jays put on a show for me. It is always interesting to observe that while 99% of Blue Jays migrate south each fall, a few hearty souls stay north and thus will have first pick of habitat next spring for mating.

In addition to the snow flocked pines, the hoar frost was amazing yesterday. The end result is I skipped my planned afternoon and after a short intermission, went out owling yesterday afternoon. I needed to be outside deep in the forest. More on that excursion later!

Blue Jays of Sax-Zim Bog!

The other target birds … Evening and Pine Grosbeaks

Who says there is not any color in the snow flocked Boreal forest!

Yesterday was a sunset I will never forget! I had heard there was a male Snowy Owl hanging out just south of Sax-Zim Bog. As much as Great Gray Owls are cool, I personally LOVE Snowies, and male Snowy Owls are particularly rare. Thus, be forewarned this this blog post has lots of photographs. There was a -15F chill factor (4F actual) out in the open, and boy was I exposed to the wind yesterday afternoon, but it was worth every moment!

When I first found this Snowy Owl it was on top of a tall power pole and then 400 yards away … very distant in a field

I waited in my car for 30 minutes, and then, thankfully, the Snowy then moved a whole lot closer!

At one point, it landed in a dirt road. Apparently this is “the look” you give a Bald Eagle as it slowly glides within 50 feet of you which says … Don’t even think about attacking me!

For all the times I have watched Snowy Owls in industrial locations. It was so nice to spend time with this owl out in the countryside … it’s favorite perch was this pine tree.

When I left for home at sunset, I was so cold from standing outside in the cold wind that I had the car’s heater on full blast with my heated seats also warming me (I almost never use the heated seats). When I got home after my hour drive, I even took a hot bath! Life is good.

Owls two days in a row a sunset means the northern owls are arriving in our area. After seeing my first Snowy of the season two nights ago, yesterday at sundown it was my first Northern Hawk Owl.

This morning my plan is to go look for Snowy Owls out on some early harbor ice. It was almost three years ago exactly, I found and rescued Sky the Snowy Owl.