FYI. Word from Michigan Mark Alt=20 Brooklyn Center, MN=20 [email protected]=20 "I recalled that I had read somewhere that in the Middle Ages Hell was envisioned as a place without birds." Jim Harrison=20 -----Original Message----- From: Rick Baetsen [mailto:[email protected]]=20 Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2005 2:56 PM To: Alt, Mark Subject: Re: Great Gray Owl, NMB Bird Profile Feature
Hello Mark, I am glad that you enjoyed the nmb great gray owl images and text on the species profile. I have many other owl images and boreal forest bird species on my website at www.rickbaetsen.com Some are in the bird gallery and the bulk of them are in a searchable stock image database, found by clicking on the link in the upper right hand corner of the main page, do the advanced search for specific species, by common name, Latin name or location. While we do have a few great gray owls in northern Michigan this winter, it is basically nothing compared to what you have in northern MN. A friend of mine over in the Arrowhead Region, told me it was possible to see well more than a hundred ggow's in an afternoon drive. I understand it is a major invasion year to the east of us in southern Ontario, north of Toronto and up near Algonquin provincial park. As to our numbers, I have been up on searches and doing some limited photography on about six days since last Nov 22nd, the last being on Feb 2, but I did spend three full days in Sault Ste. Marie, in the heart of the invasion territory in years when they come down, this Jan 28-30th. My high number of ggow, was only four in any day, often we only are able to locate one great gray, and usually one hawk-owl on the days we have been out. The birds have not staked out a hunting territory, like they have in past invasions, where they would be found in the top of the same white spruce tree for weeks. If you see one this year, it likely will not be found there the next morning. I have located two of the three hawk-owls reported this winter, both of them were pretty regular in their locations for the early part of the winter, but they too now have moved on. I am headed up to Chippewa Co. and the Sault Ste Marie area again in the morning to go out with a couple friends and continue our searches. We are enjoying what we do have this winter, but quite envious of what we have heard of what you folks in MN have this winter. I have conducted research on the northern saw-whet owl in northern MI for the past 18 years, conducting nocturnal auditory taped callback surveys. I got real lucky this past spring, on April 30th, when the night before I heard a great gray owl calling, and on the day of the 30th I located the first documented nest of the great gray owl in Michigan. There were two previous reports of immature birds, one of which I located in 1994, on Neebish Island in Chippewa Co, but no nest was ever located. If you might like to read of this nesting, I wrote up some text and have a few images on the old northern Michigan Birding message board at the following link http://www.northbirding.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi?s=3D420bc6e51= 2 65ff ff;act=3DST;f=3D1;t=3D3859 I did write a paper for Michigan Birds and Natural History that will be published this month on the nest and will have a better article on the nesting than that of the nmb site on my website soon. all the best, thanks for your note. Rick Baetsen Rick Baetsen P.O. Box 623 Walloon Lake, MI 49796 phone/fax 231.535.2123 WEBSITE http://www.rickbaetsen.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alt, Mark" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2005 3:27 PM Subject: Great Gray Owl, NMB Bird Profile Feature > How many Great Grays are you seeing this year? I like your pictures and > text. > > Mark Alt > President, > Minnesota Ornithologists Union > J. F. Bell Museum of Natural History > University of Minnesota > 10 Church Street SE > Minneapolis, MN 55455-0104 > MOU.mn.org > [email protected] > Cell: 612-803-9085 > > > > > >
