This afternoon I got to experience one of those birdwatching moments that just gives you goosebumps from head to toe (I saved that owl-moment for the end of this email)... I headed out to Sax-Zim Bog in early afternoon, to show a birdwatcher around the bog. We were treated to three BOREAL CHICKADEES sitting, calling and singing about! COMMON REDPOLLS are still making regular appearances in the bog, as are NORTHERN SHRIKES and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS. There were TWO distant and high-flying NORTHERN GOSHAWK circling in the sky, eventually flying almost overhead and heading southwest-ward. Hard to say for sure, but they did not appear to be migrating. Several BALD EAGLES were also seen flying about the bog, and one Bald Eagle was seen migrating overhead in a northwest direction. Now for the extra fun part - We ended the day just before sunset, listening for owls. We first observed one of the NORTHERN HAWK OWLS perched atop a beautifully rotted-out & lichen-covered Black Spruce tree top. Shortly after this gorgeous hawk owl caught our eye, a GREAT GRAY OWL called with the deep booming notes which their calls consist of! We were amazed at the experience of seeing a Northern Hawk Owl while the great Gray Owl called off in the distance!. The Northern Hawk Owl then began to call, and just before calling it a night, the Great Gray Owl flew across the road, catching our peripheral vision... and we got wonderful (yet silhouetted views) of the Great Gray Owl through the spotting scope!!
Good birdwatching, Erik Bruhnke Duluth, MN www.pbase.com/birdfedr www.naturallyavian.blogspot.com [email protected] ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
