I birded Sax-Zim with an old friend today. We had a splendid day, with about 35 Great Gray Owls, maybe 10 Northern Hawk Owls, and one Barred Owl (on Hwy. 7 1/2 mile south of 52). In town, we encountered a Northern Hawk Owl plunging to the ground and catching a mole. The owl carried the mole up into a tree--we could see the four pink feet sticking out--and then observed the bird carry it to a spruce tree, and stuff the little animal into a thick tuft of foliage a couple of feet from the top. If they're caching food, there must still be reasonably good hunting there.
Laura Erickson Duluth, MN Producer, "For the Birds" radio program <http://www.lauraerickson.com/> There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. --Rachel Carson
