Over the past 24 hours, I have spent significant time with seven Great Gray Owls. Some of my sightings occurred while I was out birding, while others I found while just being out and about (i.e. dumb luck, but there is an irruption in progress). This particular owl was hunting right before sunset, and in perfect light. This is the first in a series of posts about these owls.

Great Gray Owl in Flight (all the same individual owl)

Here in the Northland we had 3 days of severe cold, with two days hitting -22F (actual, not chill factor) up at my Greenwood Bird Feeders. One day I braved the cold to resupply the feeders, but the second day … not! However yesterday afternoon the wind switched and the mercury soared to +28F, which was a 50 degree temperature swing from the prior morning.

The Great Gray Owls understood it was now balmy on the Arctic Riviera and they started to hunt in the early afternoon. I saw two unique owls, and I heard of many more sightings. Here are some of my favorite images from the afternoon “hunt fest”. I spent over one hour with the owls!

In the video, listen! It is quiet. You can hear a car in the distance, but then silence rules.  Remember Great Gray Owls hunt by sound, not sight (video link for email subscribers)

And the still images. The flight image is one of the instances where the owl dove for its prey.

While most folks might have thought the winter storm dump of snow meant stay home, I figured otherwise! The snow on the trees inland from Two Harbors was gorgeous. I did have to change my planned route when my first road was not yet plowed, and had an amazing amount of fresh snow and ice which was not conducive to safe driving. My plan is to repeat this afternoon!

Winter Wonderland Great Gray Owl!