Snowy Owl
The scientists at the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota are having a busy winter. They’re nursing starving birds back to health and setting broken bones. They’re also seeing a lot of snowy owls, as the big white birds are are turning up again in Minnesota.
{Full Story} http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/12/30/raptor_troubles/
by Stephanie Hemphill, Minnesota Public Radio, December 30, 2008
Pileated male
I have had a wonderful year learning bird species and how to photograph them. As 2008 comes to a close, I wondered which ones were my favorites. There have been so many great moments both here in the backyard and out and about. I’ve met new friends and neighbors. I attended my 1st Audubon meeting and participated in my first Christmas Bird Count. We visited the Audubon Sanctuary on Dauphin Island in Alabama and I watched my wife talk to a Northern Parula. We watched as a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers ate suet in our back yard. With so many precious moments, how do you pick just one?
Scarlet Tanager
If I had to pick my favorite, the most colorful memory for me was this past spring when a dozen or so Scarlet Tanagers showed up in our back yard during their migration flight north.
Wood Duck young
We live next to the Crepeau Nature Area, and have counted over 70 different species there during the year. One of our favorite resident species is the Wood Duck.
I have pulled together an assortment of my favorite 2008 moments if you’d like to see more at 2008 Gallery.
May 2009 bring you great joy and happiness and enjoy the magic in the everyday experience.
Euphonia, Violaceous
Here is a picture of a “Violaceous Euphonia” singing loudly.
The weather yesterday was a bit dreary, so I took my folks to the Como Park Conservatory for a look at the new Tropical Encounters exhibit. They have about 12 different bird species flying in an open environment. Except for the 100% humidity, it is a great place to practice finding and photographing small brightly colored tropical birds.
Today was a bit cool… 6 below when we got up, but the sun was shining, so we thought we go out and stand around at the airport and look for a Snowy Owl. There have been reports of a Snowy Owl on Cargo road. The wind chill made it about impossible to stand for long out in the open so we stayed in the car on our heated seats and birded.
We never did see the Owl, but one photographer said that he’d been there 15 times before he finally saw him. I’ve only been there 3 times, so I don’t feel too bad.
The trip was worth the drive though as we were able to still add a bird to our life list… the Snow Bunting. We saw a flock of 20 eating grass seed along the runway. Both the Bunting and the Owl spend the summer in the “extreme northern margins of the arctic tundra”, so I guess Minneapolis is a nice place to winter for some folks.
Here is what the Snow Bunting looks like in the summer (breeding season) and in winter. (not my photos). And below is what we saw today. (my photos)
Maybe a Snowy Owl next week?
Summer plumage
Winter Plumage
Mpls Airport
Great Horned Owl in Crepeau
During the last several weeks, Tina and I spotted a Great Horned Owl in the woods behind our home twice. They are so large that I wondered, why we don’t see them more often. I realized that the only time I actually see them, is when crows or blue jays are nearby making a racket because of the owl. Without the other birds notifying me of their presence, I would probably never find them hidden in the oak leaves or tall evergreen branches.
Here is a image taken yesterday on our morning walk. First we heard a racket, and then we noticed the owl because of the sun hitting his/her chest.
He probably watches me every day.
