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!

Two weeks ago I posted about my excursion up to the Superior National Forest where I saw Red Crossbills and Spruce Grouse. Today in Sax-Zim Bog I saw the other Crossbill which visits our region when a bumper pine cone crop exists, the White Winged Crossbill. These birds with the hooked beaks are uniquely adapted to breaking open pine cones. Other birds need not apply! The White-Winged Crossbill is my favorite of the two (Cornell eBird link). Here are a few images I took this morning while this gorgeous male was “gritting up”. Notice how it has to turn its head sideways to pick up grit sand. While its beak works well for pine cones, gritting up is a bit more difficult.

White-Winged Crossbills (I found one lone male and he allowed me to get real close! When you have an opportunity like this, get very low to the ground. First, you are less likely to scare the bird. Second, an image at the same level is better than one looking down from on high)

Canada / Gray Jays are always a favorite when I visit the Bog.