Posts from the ‘owls’ Category

The Barred of Aitkin County & the End of Winter?

Mississippi River and bridge at Palisade MN Aitkin Co MN IMG_1479Mississippi River at Palisade, Minnesota.
With temperatures predicted to be in the 50s (!) on Monday March 7th, I decided to take a cruise around Carlton and Aitkin Counties and see what I could find. The woods were still covered in snow, but the fields were pretty bare. I also included photos from March 11, 12 and 13 here. [UPDATE 3-14: We may be getting 2 to 7 inches of snow this week! Maybe the “End of Winter” title was a bit premature!]

Barred Owl CR18 near Hebron Cemetery Aitkin Co MN IMG_1489Barred Owl about to pounce.
While cruising an Aitkin County bog for Great Gray Owls, I found this very focused Barred Owl. It was about to pounce on an unseen mice or vole along the road ditch.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/400 second at f5.6, ISO 800; braced on car window frame]

Barred Owl CR18 near Hebron Cemetery Aitkin Co MN IMG_1493
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/640 second at f5.6, ISO 800; handheld]

Barred Owl CR18 near Hebron Cemetery Aitkin Co MN IMG_1504Barred Owl in golden light.
The Barred did indeed pounce, but alas, came up empty-taloned. No meal for this guy/gal this morning. Normally nocturnal, the Barred Owl will hunt in the daylight when very hungry…and at this time of winter, many northern critters can be fighting hunger.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/2000 second at f5.6, ISO 800; braced on car window frame]

IMG_1560Horned Larks [Aitkin County]
One of the first spring migrants in northern Minnesota is the early-nesting Horned Lark. Often showing up in late February or early March they are usually the first songbird migrants. Trumpeter Swans, Bald Eagles, Killdeer, American Kestrels, Canada Geese are other early movers in the Northland. Horned Larks nest in farm fields and short grass pastures.

IMG_1679Trumpeter Swans
A flock of 18 Trumpeter Swans rest in a central Minnesota field recently bare of snow.

Canada Goose pair Crex Meadows Grantsburg WI IMG_1693

Canada Goose pair Crex Meadows Grantsburg WI IMG_1697Canada Goose
Crex Meadows near Grantsburg, Wisconsin is a major staging area for Sandhill Cranes in spring and fall (April and October) so I thought with the early spring that maybe, possibly some may have returned. But no. The only migrants amongst the completely frozen marshes was this Canada Goose and about 30 or 40 Trumpeter Swans, some of whom had already paired up and staked out nests.

Allocapnia Winter Stonefly St. Croix River at WI 35 WI IMG_1729Winter Stonefly
On warm March days, the Winter Stoneflies (Allocapnia species) often emerge from cold, clean fast flowing creeks and rivers. They are flightless and forage atop the snow for bits of algae.

IMG_1767High Falls of the Black River [Douglas County, Wisconsin]
A hidden gem in northwest Wisconsin…and only a dozen miles or so from our house. The Black River tumbles for 165 vertical feet over Big Manitou Falls forming the highest waterfall in Wisconsin. It is in Pattison State Park.

Rough-legged Hawk light morph Carlton Co MN IMG_1838Rough-legged Hawk, light morph [Carlton County, MN]

Rough-legged Hawk dark morph Carlton Co MN IMG_1867Rough-legged Hawk, dark morph [Carlton County, MN]

Rough-legged Hawk dark morph Carlton Co MN IMG_1876Rough-legged Hawk, dark morph [Carlton County, MN]
March 11th was a GORGEOUS spring day and the raptors were on the move north! I tallied 1 American Kestrel, 1 Merlin, 3 Northern Harriers, 7 Bald Eagles (2 immatures and 5 adults) and 6 Rough-legged Hawks including this light morph and dark morph birds. The Rough-legs are heading back to breed in the Arctic of northern Canada.

Wild Turkey Skogstjarna Carlton Co MN IMG_1934Wild Turkey Toms Displaying [Carlton County, MN]

Wild Turkey Skogstjarna Carlton Co MN IMG_1939Wild Turkey Toms Displaying [Carlton County, MN]

Wild Turkey Skogstjarna Carlton Co MN IMG_1926Wild Turkey Toms Displaying [Carlton County, MN]
We’ve had Wild Turkeys at our bird feeders for a number of years now…and every mid March the Tom’s start strutting their stuff. On March 10 and 11 I saw a Tom half puff up his feathers, but no full blown display..until the morning of March 12 when I took the three photos above. It is fun to watch them slowly erect their feathers when they notice a hen nearby, and then slowly strut and turn to show off their iridescent feathers and bright red wattle.

Northern Harrier with vole CR229 Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_2020Northern Harrier with Vole [Sax-Zim Bog, MN]
Northern Harriers are back in town. These raptors are one of the earliest to return to the Sax-Zim Bog in NE Minnesota. They float over hayfields, marshes and meadows searching for mice and voles. This female has caught one. Males are a very striking white, gray and black. They were formerly called “Marsh Hawks.”

Bohemian Waxwing Wrenshall City Park crabapples Wrenshall MN IMG_1973Bohemian Waxwing [Wrenshall, MN]
One of our winter visitors from the Canadian North, the Bohemian Waxwing will soon be heading out of the area. A flock of 7 to 30 have been hanging out in my town’s city park for the last week, feasting and fueling up on crabapples.

Bohemian Waxwing Wrenshall City Park crabapples Wrenshall MN IMG_2010Bohemian Waxwing [Wrenshall, MN]
With a blah gray sky as a background, I tried to make the photo more interesting by turning it into a “high key” image. I blew out the whites so it would almost look like the bird has been clipped from the background.

 

Superior Snowy Owls

Snowy Owl Superior Middle School Superior WI IMG_1567
Snowy Owl Superior Airport Bong Superior WI IMG_1497
[Continued from previous post]…There have been no Snowies in the Sax-Zim Bog this year so Dave and I headed to the urban “wilds” of Superior, Wisconsin (Duluth’s neighbor in the “Twin Ports”). We found two Snowies but they were not equally photogenic. One had been banded and painted by researchers so it could be identified from long distances. We got a few “insurance shots” and continued our search.

Snowy Owl Superior Middle School Superior WI IMG_1562Snowy Owls have been wintering in the industrial areas of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin for many years. When I was in college at the University of Minnesota Duluth in the early/mid 1980s, we would go down to the Port Terminal in the harbor (where all the warehouses and shipping docks were) and we could easily find a half dozen. There were probably a couple dozen wintering between there and Superior’s docks.

At that time, the harbor was a brushy mess crisscrossed by railroad tracks and dotted with junk piles and open garbage cans. It was the perfect environment for rabbits, pigeons, pheasants and rats…all great Snowy Owl food.
[All owl-in-flight shots taken with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm f5.6 lens set at Shutter Priority 1/1250 second and auto ISO. ISO ranged from 640 to 800 and f-stop ranged from f5.6 to f8]

Snowy Owl Superior Middle School Superior WI IMG_1559
Less than a mile away, we found this stunning female/young male (You can’t really tell, but in general, the darker the bird the younger it is and more likely a female). Don’t get me wrong, I love the nearly pure white adult males, but the speckled patterning on this bird was very pleasing.

Snowy Owl Superior Middle School Superior WI IMG_1561
Of course she sat on every ugly perch she could find…telephone pole, chain-link fence, scoreboard (see below). So we waited until she pooped. Why?, you might ask. Raptors always seem to “jettison” excess waste which is weight they don’t need to carry with them when they fly. Then she did and I held down the finger on my Canon 7D with the Canon 400mm f5.6 set to AI focus so the lens would continue to focus on the flying bird.

Snowy Owl Superior Middle School Superior WI IMG_1569 FLATI couldn’t resist a little fun when I saw this Snowy land on the middle school’s baseball scoreboard. After all, she is a “guest from the tundra,” just with us for the winter!

Northern Owls in a Hoar Frost Wonderland

When I left my house this morning (Dec 11th) I was a bit bummed as the skies were gray and the light flat. But when we started gaining elevation out of Duluth, a hoar frost wonderland began to appear. Every single bud, branch, needle and twig on every single tree was coated in a feathery frost. Spectacular! Now if we could only find some subjects! I was traveling with Dave Shaffer from Spooner, Wisconsin (one of the best Black Bear photographers in the country…see his images (all taken in the wild) at http://www.bearwitnessimages.com) and we were after one thing…Owls!

Most birders and photographers who love boreal birds have heard of northern Minnesota’s Sax-Zim Bog. It is a Mecca for those searching out lifers or photos of northern birds such as Boreal Chickadee, Black-backed Woodpecker, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Ruffed Grouse, Pine Grosbeak, White-winged Crossbill, Evening Grosbeak, Common Redpoll, Hoary Redpoll and, of course, owls. Great Gray Owl and Northern Hawk Owl are regular nesters and can be found easily most winters. Boreal Owls, Snowy Owls and Northern Saw-whet Owl are much more rare.

Great Gray Owl hoar-frost Admiral Road Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_1794[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; f5.6 at 1/400, ISO 400, aperture priority]
Great Gray Owl atop a tiny Tamarack cloaked in hoar-frost, Sax-Zim Bog MN
After a couple hours of unfruitful searching, we spotted a dark blob far down the road. I knew instantly that it was a Great Gray…the Phantom of the North! This was Dave’s first ever Great Gray…a “lifer” in birder parlance. And what a bird! This guy (girl?) kept on hunting for over an hour as we watched and kept clicking the shutter.

This is probably my favorite image from the day. I lover the graceful curve of the Tamarack tip and the “bird in landscape” feel. It really gives you a sense of the boreal haunts of this magnificent bird. I tweaked the white balance to give it a more cool (blue) feel. Though these are the tallest owl in North America (30 inches tall!) they are all feathers and rank third in weight (behind Snowy and Great Horned).

Hoar frost Tamaracks Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_1986Hoar Frost is relatively rare in the North Woods, but when it happens you better grab your camera and go! Here is a definition from http://www.weatheronline.com.uk
“Under clear frosty nights in winter soft ice crystals might form on vegetation or any object that has been chilled below freezing point by radiation cooling. This deposit of ice crystals is known as hoar-frost and may sometimes be so thick that it might look like snow. The interlocking ice crystals become attached to branches of trees, leafs, hedgerows and grass blades and are one of the most prominent features of a typical ‘winter wonderland’ day. However, the fine ‘feathers’, ‘needles’ and ‘spines’ might also be found on any other object that is exposed to supersaturated air below freezing temperature.

The relative humidity in supersaturated air is greater then 100% and the formation of hoar frost is similar to the formation of dew with the difference that the temperature of the object on which the hoar frost forms is well below 0°C, whereas this is not the case with dew. Hoar frost crystals often form intitially on the tips of plants or other objects.”

Great Gray Owl hoar frost Admiral Road Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_1954
Great Grays are powered by voles—both Meadow Vole and Red-backed Vole. Some studies have shown that their diet is 97% voles. Their talons are tiny compared to Great Horneds which eat much larger prey (rabbits, squirrels). And voles must be in good supply as this guy caught two back to back within minutes.

Great Gray Owl hoar frost Admiral Road Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_1592

Great Gray Owl hoar frost Admiral Road Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_1592 - Version 2The two images above are just different crops of the same original image. Which do you like better? [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; f5.6 at 1/320, ISO 400, aperture priority, tripod]

Great Gray Owl hoar frost Admiral Road Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_1739[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; f5.6 at 1/320, ISO 640, aperture priority]

Great Gray Owl hoar frost Admiral Road Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_1882 (1)[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; f5.6 at 1/125, ISO 500, aperture priority, tripod]
At dusk we found another Great Gray along McDavitt Road, about a mile or two from the other bird (as the raven flies). Thankfully Great Grays often pick photogenic perches in this stretch of road that has NO power poles or fence posts!

Great Gray Owl hoar frost Admiral Road Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_1850[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; f5.6 at 1/125, ISO 640, aperture priority, tripod]
The spruce boughs in the background hint at this bird’s wild far northern haunts.

Cactus in Minnesota?—Blue Mounds State Park: Part 2

Prickly Pear Cactus 3 1024x
CACTUS IN MINNESOTA?
Yes, actually two species of Prickly Pear Cactus occur in southwest Minnesota…Opuntia fragilis and Opuntia macrorhiza. And Blue Mounds State Park is a great place to see them for yourself. No, not giant cartoon-type cactus but a low-growing cactus with GORGEOUS and HUGE yellow blossoms. They should be blooming now! To make sure, call the park office in advance.
Purple Prairie Clover? 234_3452 copyIf you squint, you can almost imagine a time when tallgrass prairie covered the endless landscapes of southern and western Minnesota. And Purple Prairie-Clover (Dalea purpurea) was part of that rich mosaic of prairie wildflowers.
This species is a legume with a taproot that may reach down 6 feet into the soil! This root system helps prevent soil erosion. It is a true prairie plant that has evolved with fire, and does not tolerate shade. Pronghorns are even known to eat it.

Bison foursome Blue Mounds 153_5345 copyA looming thunderstorm provides a dramatic backdrop to these grazing Bison. Don’t let me mislead you…There is a fence around the entire herd, and they are not always visible to park visitors.

Bison run blur Blue Mounds State Park Luverne MN _MG_5157 copyIn 1961, the park added three bison from the Fort Niobrara Wildlife Refuge near Valentine, Nebraska to start the present bison herd. Today, the Blue Mounds’ herd is maintained at more than 100 bison.

Coneflower Blue Mounds Rock Co MNNotice the deeply cut leaves and extemely reflexed ray petals of the Pinnate Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) (sometimes called Gray-headed Coneflower). To emphasize the incredible five-foot height of this prairie native, I crouched down with my wide angle lens and put the flowering heads “in the clouds” so to speak. This photo would not have had much impact if taken at “eye-level” with the flowers.

Gray Partridge near Blue Mounds State Park Rock Co MNGray Partridge, the bird formerly known as Hungarian Partridge, are not easy to find…anywhere. So I was very fortunate to run into this breeding-plumaged male near the park. They are one of the few birds that utilize seemingly barren crop fields that surround the park. I lost the original of this image when I dropped a hard drive years ago, but fortunately I printed a 4×6. This is a scan of that 4×6 print.

Turkey Vulture Blue Mounds State Park landscape Rock Co MN IMG_9978A Turkey Vulture soars over the prairie at Blue Mounds State Park. This is the same tree and Sioux Quartzite outcrop as in another photo in this post.

Great Horned Owl cliff, Blue Mounds S.P. MN _MG_5237Cliffs can be habitat too. This Great Horned Owl has made a home of the Quartzite cliffs on the east side of the park. Hiking trails parallel the cliffs along the base and also on top of the bluff.

GHOW-SS in flight, Blue Mounds S.P. MN _MG_5240We rarely see Great Horned Owls in flight during the day. So when this guy took off, I held down the shutter. He/she then obligingly banked to reveal the full spread of its large wings and a full tail fan. The fact that he/she peeked over his/her shoulder at me was a bonus.

Rock Wren BlueMoundsSP-Stensaas (1)RARE FIND
I found this singing Rock Wren at the top of a cliff several Junes ago. The closest this western bird regularly breeds to Minnesota would be the Black Hills of South Dakota, over 300 miles away! Unfortunately, this guy did not find a mate here and likely moved on.

Tree and Sioux Quartzite Blue Mounds State Park Rock Co MNSome outcrops of Sioux Quartzite are more red than others, and this one also has excellent patterning with crusted green lichens. This scene is near the drive up to the Interpretive Center. The Box Elder (I think it’s a Box Elder) adds to the composition that might be a little boring without it.

Bison Rainbow Blue Mounds-Stensaas copyA dawn rainstorm spawned a sunrise rainbow. The clouds, 180 degrees from the rising sun, lit up a beautiful pink color. In order to get the entire arc of the rainbow, I used my 10mm lens (equivalent of a 16mm lens as it was on my camera with a 1.6 crop factor) and placed the Bison underneath. I tried everything I could think of to get him to lift his head, but to no avail. I still like this unique image.

Yellowstone May 2014—Snowbanks to Sandhills, Marmots to Mountain Bluebirds

Has it been a tough winter in Minnesota? Ja, sure ya betcha! Up near Lake Superior we had 84 days that were below zero, Eleven feet of snow, Minus 50 degree windchills, a couple days of minus 40 air temps, and snow on the ground until Mid May. In fact, when we left from Wrenshall on May 11, I still had snow in my ravine! So what’s a little more winter in Yellowstone? Temps ranged from 22 degrees to around 60 degrees, but there was still much residual snow from winter in the Hayden Valley. The Lamar Valley was snow free. It all depended on your elevation.

Sparky jump Hayden Valley snowbank Yellowstone National Park WY IMG_7173 Twelve-foot high snow banks greeted us in several passes in the Hayden Valley on May 12th! I’m jumping as high as I can and nowhere near the top.

Mountain Bluebird on snow near Canyon Yellowstone National Park WY IMG_8187 Is there a more beautiful blue in Nature? The Mountain Bluebird actually seems to glow when seen in the right light. Though not technically iridescent, the blue color is created by tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers which scatter incoming light. So we are seeing reflected light, not blue pigment in the feathers. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/1250, braced on car window frame]

Hayden Valley spring snow Yellowstone National Park WY IMG_7191 The Hayden Valley in mid May. Snow-covered and beautiful. [Canon 7D with Sigma 10-20mm lens, f10 at 1/400, handheld]

Ryan and Sparky Hayden Valley snowbank Yellowstone National Park WY IMG_7170 Ryan Marshik and Sparky dwarfed by a twelve-foot snowbank in the Hayden Valley.

Sandhill Crane near Norris in snow Yellowstone National Park WY IMG_6898Sandhill Cranes nest in the Park. We found this guy between Mammoth and Norris. I like how the S-curve of his neck matches the curving stream. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f6.3 at 1/6400 (not sure why I had such a high ISO…A mistake for sure), braced on car window frame]

Hoary Marmot Marmota caligota near Norris Yellowstone National Park WY IMG_6935

Hoary Marmot juvenile Yellowstone National Park WY IMG_7498Juvenile Yellow-bellied Marmot. Adorable!

Hoary Marmot Marmota caligota near Norris Yellowstone National Park WY IMG_6940 The three above are the very personable Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris), a mountain-dwelling rodent that lives in talus slopes and boulder fields of the western U.S. The closest they get to Minnesota is the Black Hills of South Dakota. Their cousin the Hoary Marmot is found in British Columbia and Washington state (Marmota caligota).

Marmots have a “harem-polygynous” mating system in which the male defends two or three mates at the same time. They hibernate from September to May, which explains why we never see them on our fall trips in late September or early October. They are omnivorous but eat mainly plant material supplementing with grasshoppers, bird’s eggs, etc. Each colony is 10-20 individuals. Marmots can live to 15 years! When alarmed they give a high-pitched whistle, which is how they got their nickname..”Whistle Pig.”

Great Horned Owl Mammoth Yellowstone National Park WY IMG_8927 We found out that there is a Great Horned Owl nest near the natural history museum/visitor center at Mammoth…and it has been there for years. We just stumbled upon it when we saw a photographer shooting something and went to investigate. A Black-billed Magpie was mercilessly harassing the owl…from only a foot away! (I got some video). [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/1250, tripod]

Pronghorn buck between Mammoth and Tower Junction Yellowstone National Park WY IMG_6826 Male Pronghorn just sitting around chewing its cud…literally. When I watched my video of this buck, you can see the wave in his neck as he regurgitates food into his mouth to chew again. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f7.1 at 1/160, tripod]

Coyote close Hayden Valley Yellowstone National Park WY IMG_8180 It usually pays to stay out in the field until the sun goes down. We found this Coyote hunting the Hayden Valley sagebrush flats in golden light. He came quite close to me as this shot is barely cropped! [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/2000, Handheld]

Coyote leap Hayden Valley Yellowstone National Park WY IMG_8123 He made some magnificent leaps in order to break through the crusty snow to get at small rodents but all were too far away for good photos…but I did get some video and this HIGHLY cropped image.

Top Twenty Bird Portraits 2013

I photographed nearly 250 species of birds in 2013…and it is always fun to look back over the year and pick my favorites (BTW I discovered that I kept nearly 10,000 bird images taken in 2013…And this is even after I deleted at least that many from my memory card before ever downloading). Most were taken very close to home in Carlton County, Minnesota. In fact, 15 were taken within 60 miles of home and 3 of those were taken on my land, and 2 were taken right from my living room! Only two images were taken outside of Minnesota…the dowitcher in Wisconsin and the oystercatcher in Florida. Previously I posted some of my favorite bird action shots. and Top Ten Creative Wildlife Shots. Here are my favorite bird portraits from 2013.

Yellow-rumped Warbler Skogstjarna Carlton Co MN IMG_7224April was a brutal month in northern Minnesota…Over 48 inches of snow in April alone! This photo exemplifies the mood of the month. This early-returning Yellow-rumped Warbler seems disgusted to find spring not yet sprung in the North Woods. Fortunately, these insect-eating birds will also feed on suet, which we had plenty of. Taken from my living room easy chair! My house, Carlton Co, Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/640 at f5.6, ISO 125, -⅔ EV, hand-held through our living room window!]

Wild Turkey Skogstjarna Carlton Co MN IMG_6665Amazingly, several of my favorites of the year were taken through our living room picture windows. This Wild Turkey tom had love on his mind in mid April and here he is showing off to the half dozen hens that surrounded him. See more photos and video here. My house, Carlton Co, Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/160 at f5.6, ISO 640, -⅓ EV, hand-held through our living room window!]

White-throated Sparrow Skogstjarna Carlton Co MN IMG_0324Just a nice simple portrait of a White-throated Sparrow. I brought these lichen-crusted rocks back from Wyoming just for this purpose. I placed them on my picnic table, then put out cracked corn for the migrating sparrows and blackbirds. My blind was 20 yards away. I could sneak in there for brief sessions before dinner when the light hit the table just right. My house, Carlton Co, Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/500 at f5.6, ISO 250, -⅔ EV, tripod in a blind]

Swamp Sparrow Felton Prairie Clay Co MN IMG_1734What I like about this photo is the graphic element of the vertical grass stalks with the Swamp Sparrow relatively small in the frame. Felton Prairie, Western Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/1250 at f6.3, ISO 200, hand-held but braced on bean bag on door window of car]

Short-billed Dowitcher juvenile Crex Meadows Grantsburg WI IMG_6398It’s not often that a shorebird allows your close approach…but this Short-billed Dowitcher did. I was able to sloooowly get out of my car and ease myself into the shoreline brush to get a closer shot. It was late in the fall migration so the dowitcher was very intent on feeding, gathering energy to continue its journey south. Crex Meadows, Wisconsin.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/800 at f7.1, ISO 250, hand-held]

Northern Shoverler male near Felton Prairie Clay Co MN IMG_1408Early morning light on one of our most spectacular ducks—the Northern Shoveler. It is named for its oversized bill that is used to sift pond waters for micro-organisms. See more Felton Prairie shots here. Felton Prairie, Western Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/1000 at f5.6, ISO 500, hand-held]

Horned Grebe adult Park Pt bayside Duluth MN Horned Grebe Park Pt Duluth MN IMG_9081Ice-out was very late in spring 2013. This can be good for photographers as it forces spring-migrating waterfowl to the open water close to shore (where the ice melts first). This Horned Grebe really had its “horns” up, and was in peak spring plumage. Love the red eyes too! Park Point, Bayside of Lake Superior, Duluth Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/640 at f8, ISO 800, -⅓ EV, hand-held]

Great Gray Owlet stretching_0002This is actually a single frame from a clip of video I was shooting of this Great Gray Owlet. Because of that, the file is quite small and of limited use. I just like how the little guy was stretching its wings over its head.

Great Gray Owl nestling Hedbom Rd Aitkin Co MN IMG_7402See the full story and video of this amazing experience here.
[Canon 7D with Sigma 10-20mm lens, 1/60 at f9, ISO 100, Canon 420EX flash, hand-held. NOTE: Not the ideal settings! I should have shot at max flash sync speed of 1/250 at a bit higher ISO, but I’d just been shooting video (which is always at 1/60 second) and forgot to change my camera settings.]

Great Gray Owl nestling Hedbom Rd Aitkin Co MN IMG_7390 - Version 2The two images above were from June when a friend of mine, Kim Risen, discovered a Great Gray Owl nest deep in a Spruce-Tamarack bog. The young had fledged but were still begging to be fed by mommy from their ground perches. I crawled slowly up to them with my wide angle lens and flash, took a few shots, then crawled away again. Mom supervised the whole operation. Northern Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Sigma 10-20mm lens at 20mm, 1/60 at f9, ISO 100, Canon 420EX flash, hand-held. NOTE: Not the ideal settings! I should have shot at max flash sync speed of 1/250 at a bit higher ISO, but I’d just been shooting video (which is always at 1/60 second) and forgot to change my camera settings.]

Great Gray Owl nest Hedbom Road Aitkin Co MN Great Gray Owl nestlings in nest Hedbom Rd Aitkin Co MN IMG_6410
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/60 at f5.6, ISO 1000, tripod from blind]

Gray Jay in gold Tamarack Admiral Rd Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_8946I just like the vertical composition of this image. Tamaracks turn a vibrant yellow-gold in the bogs of October and this Gray Jay made one his tip-top perch. Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/250 at f5.6, ISO 400, hand-held]

Boreal Chickadee and Black-capped Chickadee Admiral Rd feeder Sax-Zim Bog MNAnother Sax-Zim Bog photo. I like this image because it is our two species of chickadees together on one branch. The Boreal Chickadee is restricted to deep dark Black Spruce/Tamarack bogs while the Black-capped is found in nearly every habitat in the North Woods. Boreals are more attractive in person than they are shown in the field guides; I love their warm brown cap and olive back. Amazingly they do not eat sunflower seeds! In fact, at this feeder (Admiral Rd in the Sax-Zim Bog) they only feed on suet and peanut butter—Fat! In the bogs they feed on insects (eggs, adults, larvae) and carcasses. It is my belief that if enough of them could gang up, they’d bring down a Moose! Feast time! But seriously, they do not readily leave the Black Spruce/Tamarack forests and are never seen at feeders away from their bog security blanket.
[Taken at Admiral Rd feeders in the Sax-Zim Bog. I set up the branch and put some peanut butter behind the branch to attract the chickadees. Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, Canon 420EX flash with Better Beamer.]

Brewer's Blackbird Felton Prairie Clay Co MN IMG_1642Brewer’s Blackbirds are actually anything but black…In the right light, their iridescent feathers show purples, bronzes and greens. A weathered fence post and rusty barbed wire adds to the prairie feel. See more Felton Prairie shots here. Felton Prairie, Western Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/1250 at f6.3, ISO 250, -⅓ EV, hand-held, braced on car window frame]

Boreal Owl preens nr Stoney Pt Scenic 61 St. Louis Co MN IMG_0074883The winter of 2013 brought birders and photographers a special treat…an irruption of a rarely seen owl called the Boreal Owl. About the size of a small box of Kleenex, the Boreal Owl preys on voles but when vole numbers crash in areas north, they must move south in search of food. This little guy was photographed on an overcast day. It was a big surprise when I saw the image on the computer…I loved how the tree trunk’s lichens blurred to pleasing shades of green, and was especially excited about the oozing sap/pitch that turned blue in the shade, both contrasting nicely with the Boreal’s yellow eyes. See more of my photos and video of the irruption here. Near Stoney Point, Duluth, Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/1250 at f5.6, ISO 3200, -⅓ EV, hand-held]

Boreal Owl Dodges Log Lodges Scenic 61 Lake Co MNIMG_0074823It was a Boreal Owl irruption winter…the first in many years. The hungry owls had been driven south in search of food and ended up along the North Shore of Lake Superior near Duluth. The event was a treat for birders and photographers but was an ordeal for the owls. Fortunately, many seemed to be catching voles despite the deep snow. See more of my photos and video of the irruption here. Near Stoney Point, Duluth Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/500 at f5.6, ISO 100, tripod]

Bohemian Waxwing crabapple Duluth Zoo Duluth MN IMG_8418During a spring family outing to the Duluth Zoo, we stumbled on a very wild and non-captive flock of Bohemian Waxwings. The birds were happily feeding at head-height in a crabapple tree near the Siberian Lynx and Snow Leopard. I shot the birds as folks walked right by the tree without even noticing the birds (until they looked at me and wondered what I was photographing.) Duluth, Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/500 at f5.6, ISO 160, -⅓ EV, hand-held]

Black Oystercatcher Estero Beach Lagoon Ft. Meyers Beach FL IMG_4003A family vacation to Ft. Meyers Beach, Florida in June was filled with fun but cursed with bad weather (The kids didn’t even notice!). So when I took this shot of a Black Oystercatcher on a tidal shallow pool under heavy overcast skies, I didn’t think much would come of it. But when I got back home and saw it on the computer, I was ecstatic. The gray water and flat light actually work in this case. I blew out the whites to give the Oystercatcher a nice clean background. I love the curved sweep of its feathers as it preened. See more photos from the Florida trip here. Fort Meyers Beach, Florida
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/500 at f5.6, ISO 100, hand-held]

Bald Eagle CR4 Cemetary Rd Carlton Co MN IMG_0075839Bald Eagles often survive northern Minnesota winters feeding on roadkill White-tailed Deer. This one was doing just that. Can you see the blood on its bill? Carlton County, Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, 1/1000 at f6.3, ISO 250, hand-held braced on car window frame]

American White Pelican St. Louis River Fond du Lac Duluth MN IMG_9999Every few years a flock of American White Pelicans stops by the St. Louis River near Fond du Lac, Duluth Minnesota. They usually spend a few weeks loafing, preening and fishing in a stretch of river near the bridge. They are always a blast to watch and I really enjoyed an afternoon with them in May. Fond du Lac, Duluth, Minnesota.
[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with 1.4x tele-extender, 1/1600 at f8, ISO 100, tripod]

Dream Come True: Witness to a Great Gray Owl nest

Great Gray Owl nestlings in nest Hedbom Rd Aitkin Co MN IMG_6410Two Great Gray Owlets await mommy or daddy from their lofty nest in a large Tamarack.

I had the great fortune of having a good friend who was willing to share the location of a Great Gray Owl nest he had found recently. Kim Risen is a professional bird guide based out of Tamarack, Minnesota, who leads birding trips across the globe, from South Africa to South America to Costa Rica to Mexico and even in his ‘backyard’ of northern Minnesota. Kim found this nest on a June trip with a client. He’d seen young in this general vicinity several times over several different years. He graciously shared the site with me.

I first visited the Black Spruce/Tamarack bog with Kim and his wife Cindy on June 18th and made several more visits, the last on June 28th. Two owlets were in the nest until at least June 24th, then must have “flew the coup” around June 27th or 28th when we found them on the ground.

VIDEO SHOWING BEHAVIOR & COMMENTARY ON FAVORITE PHOTOS (7 MINUTES)

You can see more of my wildlife videos HERE

Great Gray Owl nestling Hedbom Rd Aitkin Co MN IMG_7396Note mom in the bottom left corner of the image…She was never very far away. The young were generally silent…until they saw an adult when they gave a loud screech (can hear it late in the video). But the female often gave a rising “Whoop!” call. Robert Nero, one of the world’s foremost authorities on Great Gray Owls, says this call “is often given by the female on the nest as a means of communicating with the male.” Robert Taylor, author of The Great Gray Owl: On Silent Wings calls this is “food request call” and it is given more frequently during years of low vole supplies. It likely helps the male find the female too as he delivers the food to her so she can feed the owlets. May this also be the female’s form of communication with the owlets?…”You’re okay…I’m right here.”

Great Gray Owl nestling Hedbom Rd Aitkin Co MN IMG_7390On June 28th I went to photograph the owlets from my blind…But I saw no action in the nest. Just as I was contemplating this, I simultaneously heard my cell phone ring as well as a screech from ground level. I assumed the screech was one of the owlets who’d left the nest. It was Kim on the phone and he was in the bog and had seen the young on the ground. As he was talking I found one of the owlets ‘teed up’ on a stump… “Found one! Gotta go.” I set up my tripod and folding chair, then draped camo netting over myself and started shooting. The owlet stared at me for 20 minutes without taking its eyes off me, though its posture relaxed over this time. Then when he/she was comfortable that I was not a predator, the owlet started to look around, and even stretch.

Great Gray Owlet stretching_0002STREEEEETCH! FRAME EXTRACTED FROM VIDEO CLIP. The young Great Grays often stretched like this…Working their flight muscles I imagine. Fortunately he was facing me head on and gave me this unique perspective. [Note that when you extract a frame from a HD video clip you only get a 1920x1080pixel image to work with…and it’s shot at 1/60 second…and its basically a jpeg. Very limited use, but fine for the web].

Great Gray Owl nestling Hedbom Rd Aitkin Co MN IMG_7389Though the owlets can’t fly at this age, they sure can get around! They will walk across the bog then climb leaning trees and stumps by using their talons for grip and using their beak to grab branches like a parrot, pulling themselves up, wings held over their back for balance.

Great Gray Owl nestling Hedbom Rd Aitkin Co MN IMG_7390 - Version 2 (1)The ticket to not alarming wild critters is to move slowly, stay low, avoid eye contact, and talk to them in a low soft voice (don’t whisper!). And stay in plain sight so you are not mistaken for a sneaky predator. I got very close to this owlet…Close enough to use my 10-20mm lens with full flash. I love the low angle and wide perspective which really puts the owl in its habitat.

Great Gray Owl nestling Hedbom Rd Aitkin Co MN IMG_7343

Great Gray Owl nestling Hedbom Rd Aitkin Co MN IMG_7302Eye-level shot with Canon 400mm f5.6. I WISH I’d put my big flash and Better Beamer on! The images looked okay on the LCD but there is a weird greenish cast from the light filtering down through the canopy. Live and learn!

Great Gray Owl nestling Hedbom Rd Aitkin Co MN IMG_7410The sibling to the owlet on the stump, is this fuzzball. I found him/her on a comfy cozy patch of super-soft Sphagnum moss. I laid on my belly, crawled towards her (got soaking wet!) and inched to within a foot of her/him. He/she began bill clacking, an alarm signal, so I snapped a few photos (full flash) and backed off.

I wish this little family well and hope they find many fat voles!

[All photos and video taken with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm f5.6 lens or Sigma 10-20mm lens, Canon 580EX flash, Cabela’s Lightning Set pop-up blind, Manfrotto tripod]

White Critters of Winter

Ermine Owl Ave feeders Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_4463Winter white is still all around us, even on this relatively late date of March 23rd…Still about 24 inches of snow in the woods…and we’ve had nearly 4 feet of snow since mid February. So I thought it was fitting for a photo round up of some of our white winter critters. The Ermine above was photographed near a feeding station in the Sax-Zim Bog of northern Minnesota. Two Ermine were regularly feasting on deer rib cages and chunks of suet put out for the birds. They are quick critters and photographing them was a real challenge. In summer, they have brown pelage, but in winter they acquire a winter white coat save the black tip on their tail (photo below). It is one of the only mammals that has a different name in winter…Long-tailed Weasels become Ermine when they turn white. Note that some have a greenish tinge to their fur.
Ermine tail Owl Ave feeders Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_4457Ermine Sax-Zim MN IMG_0018358Fast critters! Ermine are carnivores and specialize in squeezing their narrow body in mice and vole tunnels.

Glaucous Gull Canal Park Duluth MN IMG_0072569The Glaucous Gull is a big bruiser of a gull…even larger than our Herring Gull. It is an arctic bird that nests only in the Far North including the North Slope of Alaska, Ellesmere Island, northern Labrador and Baffin Island. But we are fortunate that a few winter on the Great Lakes, especially in late fall and early winter when there is little ice on Lake Superior. This juvenile bird (note all white plumage and pink bill with black tip) was photographed in evening light against a dark background of the breakwall in Duluth’s Canal Park.

Snowy Owl Superior Middle School Sparky Stensaas IMG_0074842Snowy Owl Superior Middle School Sparky Stensaas IMG_0076189Snowy Owl Bong Airport Superior WI IMG_0074505 (1)The above Snow Owls were all photographed in nearby Superior Wisconsin near the Bong Airport…a suitable substitute for arctic tundra for this Snowy. Most of the birds we see in winter are young birds. They gravitate to the industrial ports of Duluth and Superior where there is plenty of food—pigeons, mice, voles, rabbits. To get a good viewing/hunting vantage point, they perch on light poles, buildings (including right above the main entrance to the Superior Middle School!), fences, and even spruce trees—an odd sight for a tundra-dwelling bird).

Snow Bunting Crex Meadows WI IMG_4878 (1)I love the black and white plumage of this lone male Snow Bunting that I recently photographed near Crex Meadows, Wisconsin. Note that he is nearly in spring breeding plumage, his back will become pure black as will his bill, but he’s worn off the yellowish and brown feather tips of winter. This is unusual in birds who usually go through a complete molt in spring. Snow Buntings only molt once, in the fall. They rely on the feather wear to reveal their spring plumage. They only grace us with their presence in late fall and winter, heading back north to their tundra homes in spring. Males arrive in the arctic when there is still snow and below zero temps to set up territories. Females return about three weeks later.

Northern Shrike nr Northwestern Middle School Poplar WI IMG_4031Shrikes are pint-sized bird predators who are only winter visitors to our “balmy” northern U.S. climes. They “tee-up” on tree tops in open areas to scan for small birds and mice/voles. They also appreciate our bird feeders…a real shrike smorgasboard! They nest in the taiga across Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavit, east to the northern Labrador Peninsula (northern Quebec and Newfoundland ). They are heading back north now. This cooperative dude was photographed near Poplar, Wisconsin. He allowed me to walk right up to him (usually they fly the instant you apply your car brakes!)
Snowshoe Hare Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_0002192 copyRemaining motionless in a snow-blanketed environment is a good survival strategy unless a photographer has already spotted you alongside a Sax-Zim Bog road. This Snowshoe Hare is perfectly adapted to deep snow and extreme cold…and you need any advantage you can when you have feline predators such as Bobcat and Lynx after you.
Hoary Redpoll Matt Moses yard Solway Twp St. Louis Co MN IMG_4280Hoary Redpoll Admiral Road Sax-Zim Bog MN IMG_0076263It was a banner winter for Hoary Redpolls in northern Minnesota. Normally there is a ratio of about 1:100 Hoary’s vs. Common Redpolls. Hoary’s, like their name implies, are paler, whiter, frostier than Common’s, with limited streaking on their flanks, a stubby bill and “pushed in” face and very limited streaking on their rump. Both are winter visitors from the Arctic. They are still around but will soon be heading north.

Trumpeter Swans 2 flying backlit Monticello MN IMG_0073469How could I forget the largest white winter bird of all? The Trumpeter Swans congregate in the thousands on the Mississippi River near Monticello, Minnesota. A nuclear power plant keeps the river open even in the coldest temps.

Mallard albino Monticello MN IMG_0073451Leucistic Mallard. Okay, not naturally a white bird, but this Mallard was photographed this winter, and it is white-ish 🙂

[All photographed with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm f5.6 lens. All hand-held]

**PLEASE SPONSOR ME in my BIG HALF YEAR FOR THE BOG effort to photograph 150 species of birds in Minnesota before June 30th. I am over 60 species now. This is a fundraiser for my non-profit organization…Friends of Sax-Zim Bog. You can pledge per species or in a lump sum. I also have a gallery of images linked here too. THANKS!
SPARKY’S BIG HALF YEAR LINK HERE

GOOGLE PLUS GALLERY OF ALL MY BEST BIRD PHOTOS FROM 2013 HERE

Boreal Owl Bonanza!

First of all, let me say that Boreal Owls are the cutest bird in the entire world! About the size of a Kleenex box, nearly as wide as they are tall, the Boreal has bright yellow eyes with two black “tear drop” marks and a face framed by black. Immaculate white spots dot the forehead. This has been a great winter to see this most elusive of all owls in northern Minnesota.

Roughly every 4 years there is an increase in Boreal Owl sightings in Minnesota. Usually, late in the winter, a few may be spotted hunting in the daytime, which often means that they are hungry!…possibly starving. You see, Boreals are normally nocturnal hunters. So when voles are at a low cycle further north, the Boreals need to move in search of food. In late January of 2013 they started showing up in Sax-Zim and along the North Shore. Guide Chris Wood found SEVEN in one day along the Scenic 61 highway north of Duluth. This has been a huge IRRUPTION! (yes, irruption is the right word).

And since Boreal Owls are rarely seen, this influx of day-hunting Boreals is big news. Most of the folks I guide still need it for their life list. So irruption years become BUSY years for the local guides (and I’m no exception!). In fact, the tiny owl hadn’t even been recorded nesting in the Lower 48 until the spring/summer of 1978 when a Boreal Owl pair took up residence in a nest box in Tofte, Minnesota.

Here is a compilation of video from 4 different Boreals taken between January 27th and February 8th.

Boreal Owl Scenic 61 nr Stoney Point Duluth MN IMG_0074437
Boreal Owl preens nr Stoney Pt Scenic 61 St. Louis Co MN IMG_0074883
Boreal Owl Dodges Log Lodges Scenic 61 Lake Co MNIMG_0074823
Boreal Owl Dodges Log Lodges Scenic 61 Lake Co MN IMG_0074782
Boreal Owl sleeps Dodges Log Lodges Scenic 61 Lake Co MN IMG_0074762

All photos taken with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm f5.6 lens. BUT note that the top photo was taken with the 400mm AND stacked 2x and 1.4x teleconverters! Don’t let anyone tell you that you should NEVER stack teleconverters…I did and the photo turned out all right I think.

My free Owls eBook for iPad/iPhone (and coffee-table book)

Bog Hunters is a gorgeous (if I do say so myself!) 40 page 12″x12″ coffee-table book that I made for a fundraiser for my non-profit Friends of Sax-Zim Bog (www.saxzim.org).

It is simply compelling photos of the BIG THREE northern owl species…Boreal Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, and Great Gray Owl (Great Grey Owl for all my European friends). I also list locations of where the image was taken. There is also a spread of “bog neighbors.” This is not a how-to book, nor is it a natural history guide…just “perdy” pictures.

And now it is available for FREE download for those with iBooks on their iPad or iPhone.
Go to this link to download it:

FREE BOG HUNTERS EBOOK FOR IPAD/IPHONE

[WARNING: It took me several tries to download it to Bridget’s original/1st generation iPad1]

A large format print version…hardcover with lustre paper…is available as well. The price is a daunting $86.13 (shipping included) BUT I am only charging what Blurb.com is charging me to print a single copy. Here is a link:

CHECK OUT (OR PURCHASE) COFFEE-TABLE VERSION OF BOG HUNTERS

Here are some LOW-RES page spreads

BOG HUNTERS pg 14-15
Bog Hunters pg 16-17
Bog Hunters pg 24-25