June 14, 2010 It was one of those days in birding that are all too rare. One of those days where you find everything you are looking for and more.
You can skip straight to the photos here: http://gallery.me.com/sparkystensaas#100651 N HAWK OWL FAMILY Driving the Whyte Road (just 0.2 miles from the Stoney River Forest Road (Superior National Forest in Lake County) I stopped to photograph some blooming Bog Laurel...But even before I got out I heard the rasping begging cry of an owl. Sure enough THREE recently fledged juvenile Northern Hawk Owls were begging for food...A parent was perched on the south side of the road. I watched them for two or three hours (mosquitos were pleasantly inactive on this cool morning). Twice while I was there a parent flew in with a vole to one juvenile...The other two young immediately flew to her as if it was the last meal they'd ever get! At one point all three went completely SILENT and MOTIONLESS for ten minutes...Had mom given them a signal that a predator was around...I never saw what it was but after ten minutes they went back to begging. One juvenile had a vole in its talons that it eventually choked down nearly whole...Not sure if it caught it or mom/dad brought it to him. GREAT GRAY FAMILY On a tip from a friend I bushwacked for over an hour and a half into the backcountry of the Superior National Forest near Birch Lake in St. Louis County. It was a nightmare bushwack through dense alder swamp, and up and down terrain. But the Great Grays were right where his GPS coordinates said they would be (I actually didn't expect to find them). I sat with the family for two hours...Two downy Great Gray chicks above my head and mom/dad watching them from only 80 feet away. As usual the adult paid me no attention. The adult had a series of vocalizations I'd only read about...soft "poot" and a longer mellow "hooooot" One youngster coughed up a pellet that landed only feet from me. A fascinating and exhausting day. I will post some video soon too. photos: http://gallery.me.com/sparkystensaas#100651 Sparky Stensaas 2515 Garthus Road Wrenshall, MN 55797 218.341.3350 cell [email protected] http://www.photoshelter.com/c/sparkyphotos/ www.stoneridgepress.com www.kollathstensaas.com _________________________________________________________________ The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_3 ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
