Today is my 64th birthday … kind of strange with Coronavirus. Family can not come over. Oh well … there is still birding! I spent the morning in Sax-Zim Bog, and then came home to bicycle along the North Shore of Lake Superior. I finished the afternoon with hike over to my own Great Horned Owls (not owlets yet … or they are hiding under Mom). It was a fun day, just not what I would planned a few weeks ago.

Birthday Bald Eagles (all different birds migrating into the Northland)

Pine Tree Bird

Railroad Bird

Cedars Take-Off Bird

Not to be outdone, I found a Northern Hawk Owl. If I can still find it by April 7th it might actually be nesting! I was lucky the temperature was still below freezing (30F) and the sun had just come out. I was able to mostly walk on top of the crust. When I broke through the snow was still two feet deep. After spending 20 minutes with this owl, I decided I had better hoof it back to the road before the hike would become a real slog (i.e. each step would break through the crusted snow).

I have higher resolution versions of all these images, but I decided to optimize this post for faster loading.

With the coming of Spring … still some time away in the Northwoods given the snow still present, young first year owls have been kicked out of “birth” territories by their parents. I have been finding Great Gray Owls in unexpected places over the past week. I am almost certain these are yearlings (first year birds) who must now find their own territories and get on with life.

Late Friday afternoon I found a Great Gray Owl hunting over two hours before sunset on an extremely bright, sunny day. This would normally be unheard of for this nocturnal bird except for these important reasons:

• The prior 48 hour’s weather included 25+ mph winds (horrible for hunting)
• This owl is a youngster and not yet a expert hunter

Thus, hunger trumps hunting at night. This owl was hunting a roadside where much of the snow had melted, unlike in the deep woods where the snow depth is still one to two feet. It was a magical time, and I maintained my social distances! Over the course of 45 minutes, I watched the owl from as little as 10 yards distance. It repeatedly plunged to the ground, but was never successful … darn … seriously I hope it does not starve.

There are a lot of photographs associated with this post, but they show many aspects of Gray Gray Owl behaviors while hunting.

The Look You Have After an Unsuccessful Hunt

The Intensity of the Search / Hunt

Attack!

A Full Attack and Failure (I was totally convinced the owl had made a successful capture after this attack. It sat on the ground for 20 seconds … starting down. Unfortunately, even with an initial successful capture under the long grasses, the bird needs to make the transfer from talons to beak. I think this part of the hunt is what failed, and the vole escaped)

Crows in the Area (Great Gray Owls will stretch out long and try to look like a tree trunk when a threat appears)

One Last Great Gray Owl Photo … the Hunting Grounds

I watched this Great Gray Owl hunt for ten minutes this morning about 8:30 a.m. up in the Bog. It was hunting later than normal after sunrise, but the past few days have been so windy that I suspect hunting has been very difficult. It plunged twice to the ground but came up empty each time. Darn!