A van load of women came down with northern owl flu , called in sick and took a day trip to Sax Zim Bog Tuesday--owls were EVERYWHERE! I printed out a map and starred all the intersections where owls had been reported since Thursday to use as a guide but really, we found many owls in places not listed.
We took a drive down a Wildlife Management Area just north of the bog and immediately found our first great gray of the day. We pulled over with the windows down and the side door of the van open so all of us got a good view of the owl from the van. A truck with two men clad in orange pulled up and asked in all seriousness, "You ladies aren't hunting from your car are you, that's not legal." We held up our binoculars and pointed out the owl we were watching. They asked why they had been seeing so many owls lately and we told them about what was going on, and they directed us to other areas to check for owls in the WMA. The fog made for a beautiful morning and birds seen in and around the bog include: 7 great-gray owls 2 northern hawk owls common redpolls northern shrike rough legged hawks bald eagles (one in a tree with a rabbit) ruffed grouse gray jays pileated woodpecker snow buntings Again, if anyone hasn't been to the bog yet and was thinking of going, it is so worth it and so much fun. More than once we would be driving and someone would say, "If I were a great gray owl I would be in a patch like this...oh, there's one." For one of the ladies in the van this was her first experience of birding by car and it was fun to hear her exclaim, "I never knew it could be like this!" I'm probably going to use this for my KARE 11 segment on Friday. -- Sharon Stiteler Minneapolis, MN www.birdchick.com
