Aggressive Downy

I have the butchest downy in town. A hairy woodpecker keeps trying to eat at my suet log and usually that's no problem, but the smaller male downy is having issues with this. Every time the hairy starts to peck at the log, the downy dive bombs him and swooping at his head zooming from right to left, left to right. Now the hairy just flew to another tree with the downy in hot pursuit. I'm sure there's a small pecker joke to made in there somewhere. By the way, I need to set up my FAQ and I have an idea of what questions to answer, and I'm going to try and compile it this weekend, but does anyone have a question they need answered? Start emailing them. I have gotten few questions about a crow proof suet feeder, this photo is about the closest one out there. It's called a Suet Sandwich and is on the pricier side, but in the long run you save lots of money as the crows can't eat out of it and squirrels and raccoons have a tougher time with it as well. It's two pieces of (fake-yet oh so durable) wood held together with screws that leaves about a quarter inch opening. You can buy presliced suet to put inside or you can mush in your favorite suet flavor. The opening is large enough for all the regular suet eaters (up to an including the ill named pileated woodpecker). Crows have a tough time clinging to the feeder and cannot get their big bill inside. Here's a photo of the feeder with an unpestered hairy woodpecker feeding at it:

Stealth Mobbing of a Cooper's Hawk

This morning I went out start my car. As I headed back into my apartment building the sky was swirling with a large flock of pigeons and starlings. As they wheeled around the group focused in on a large adult female Cooper's hawk, the flock of birds spun around her and I watched as she darted over the building towards my bird feeder. She did a sneak drop down and landed in a nearby tree. The pigeons and starlings continued to circle the tree. A lone crow flew in and landed about three feet away from the hawk when it dawned on me that no one was making any noise. I had never seen silent mobbing before it was kind of pretty in a ballet kind of way to watch.

The whole scene made me think of other things I had never noticed, like I have never seen a flock of coots in flight. Oh sure, I've seen them half fly/half run across water, but I've never seen a huge migrating flock in mid air. I know they have to do this because one day the lake is empty and the next it can be filled with rafts of coots, but I've never seen the flock arrive or leave. They must be night migrants, but I've never seen it. Something to watch for, not the loftiest birding goal out there, but something I would like to see.

Another Map

You can also visit Laura Erickson's site (lauraerickson.com) where Chris Fagyal has made his own map with areas already dotted where great gray and northern hawk owls can be found. There is also information about seeing the unusual hummingbird that is still visiting her yard right now!

http://lauraerickson.com/

KARE 11 Segment

This is not as fancy as some of my usual posts, but the folks at KARE 11 are kind enough to give me a few minutes on one of their computers to update my blog.

If you are looking for the feeders that I showed as gifts, stop into any All Seasons Wild Bird Store (find a location near you by visiting http://wildbirdstore.com).

I'm so excited to learn that KARE got a huge response of interest to see the northern species of owls that are "invading" Minnesota this year. If you have been hesitant about going, YOU MUST GO!!!!! It's incredible right now, one birder saw 56 owls in the St. Louis County area (where Szx Zim is) on Thanksgiving Day. I believe the previous record for this many great gray owls in one day was around 34. This is a once in a lifetime event and something that even the non-birders and kids can enjoy.

Here's a repost of the Sax Zim map and intersections.
Iron Trail.org's Sax Zim Bog page.

(Edit: link now fixed)

I've received several requests for the map that I used to look for great gray owls and northern hawk owls. I printed out a map of Sax Zim Bog from the Iron Trail Website and then marked off all the spots that had been reported on the bird nets by Ben Yokel and Mike Hendrickson. We also found owls in other areas, it just became a matter of knowing what type of habitat to find them. If you like, you can print out the map and then mark down on it the owls from Ben and Mike's posts.

These were intersections with owls reported by Ben Yokel:

Northern Hawk Owls: Three individuals along Hwy 53 between mile markers 43 and 45, just north of Cotton. Four individuals along Hwy 7, located 4.0, 5.0, 5.5, and 7.5 miles N. of 52 (Arkola Rd). One bird along 213 (McDavitt Rd), 5 miles N. of 28 (Sax Rd)3 birds along 788 (Admiral Rd), located 2.6, 3.8, and 3.9 miles S. of 27 (Zim Rd) One bird along 28 (Sax Rd), 1 mile W of Hwy 71 bird along 133, 2.6 miles W. of Hwy 71 bird in Melrude, just S. of the Town Hall (the "election monitor" from Nov 2).

Great Grays Owls: One bird along Berg Lake Rd in Melrude1 bird along Melrude Rd (59), 1 mile E of Hwy 531 bird along Randall Rd, 0.5 miles N. of 52 (Arkola Rd, ~1 mile W. of Cotton). Two birds along Admiral Rd (788), 3.6 and 4.0 miles south of Zim Rd (27). The bird 4 miles S of Zim Road was an off-white dilute-plumaged bird, possibly the same individual seen earlier this year along 28 and 207. These were intersections with owls reported by Mike Hendrickson.

Northern Hawk Owl: 2 miles south of Stone Lake Rd. (319). At the intersection of 319 and Co. Rd 71 .5 miles south of Co. Rd 232 (Lake Nichols Rd) on Co. Rd 71.25 miles south of Co. Rd. 232 on Co. Rd 7.

Two Great Grey Owls were seen on Co. Rd 133 4.4 miles east of Co. Rd 7. On our trip on Tuesday we found two great gray owls in a Wildlife Management Area about six miles north of the town of Cotton off of 53. We also found two great gray owls within a mile of each other on 133 about 3 miles east of 7. We also found a great gray on 52 just west (about half a mile) of 7. Keep in mind that the birds can be found in these general areas and they don't always stay put (they do have wings after all), and to watch closely.

Some general tips when looking for owls include:
1. If you stay in your vehicle you can get relatively close without scaring the owls. You really don't need to do any hiking in the bog, the birding can all be done from the comfort of your vehicle!
2. Watch for northern hawk owls on the tops of trees. They fly much faster than other birds and their wings have a sort of falcon shape as they large long and somewhat pointed like a falcon. They can look about crow size or a little smaller when perched on top of a tree or telephone pole.
3. Watch for great gray owls (which are just HUGE) about eye level in areas with lots of trees. We found several near the road sitting on old snags but it is possible to sometimes find them on top of spruce trees or fence posts in the open.
4. Roads can be either numbered or named. For example, 202 is also Owl Avenune (not so good for owls this year, but great for boreal chickadees)
5. Watch for other vehicles that are slowing or stopped on the side of the road, chances are it's another birder who has spotted an owl.Good Luck and I hope you get some owls!

Great Horned Owl

I've been kind of bummed with the time change since now when we close the bird store at six it's dark outside. Tonight I was cursing my idea of putting out 9 life sized penguins near the highway as advertisement as the dark settled in. As I picked up a large plastic penguin a shape appeared above the highway with shallow wing beats. The lights from the parking lot revealed a white bib and tan and brown coloring--a great horned owl. I ran through the store, grabbed Melissa and went behind the mall to see if we could spot where it landed. Sure enough there was a large lump on a tree in the distance. We tried to hoot at it, but the traffic from the highway drowned out any response it might have made.

On a side note here's a piece of advice: If you are someone who shows up to work no matter what (rain or shine, in sickness or in health) it generally is not a good idea to have one of your employees prank call your assistant manager the day after Thanksgiving (the busiest shopping day of the year) and say you never showed up. The assistant manager will not assume you were too hung over to come in but imagine you chopped to bits and dead from carbon monoxide poisoning and call the police right away. Also, when said prank is revealed, the assistant manager will start speaking in tongues so acidic, it would make a stevedore blush.

Bird Banding Fun

Ron Refsnider had this interesting report on November 9th about an interesting situation that happened while they were banding songbirds at Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley. For some people this is going to be kind of morbid, but it's one of those interesting things that happens at banding stations that really gets me excited:

We trapped and banded an adult northern shrike this morning during the monthly banding operation at Fridley's Springbrook Nature Center. Unfortunately, it apparently became trapped as it forced its way into a trap that already contained a banded chickadee, then it killed the chickadee. We had banded the chickadee as a hatch-year bird back in 1999, and this was its 30th capture, so the shrike ended a long string of data that we had collected on its prey.

Another interesting capture today was of a chickadee that we had banded in February of 1995; thus, it's at least 10 years old and was still looking healthy.

Birds with bill deformities

Bud Anderson sent me this photo of a red-tailed hawk with a deformed bill found in San Jose, CA.

Last month I posted a photo of a peregrine falcon with an overgrown bill that we got in at a hawk banding station in Duluth, MN. To all of us at the banding station, it looked like the bird had possibly flown into something and the bill became overgrown as a result. Not long after the photo was up I started getting emails from around the country about birds with bill deformities. I recalled a few years ago hearing about chickadees with deformed and overgrown bills showing up on Project Feeder Watch reports but didn't think anything more about it until the last month. This is an occurance that is being closely monitored. Many of the birds found with the elongated bills are in Alaska. The peregrine in our nets could have been from Alaska, it's tough to say, but the bird was a tundrius subspecies of peregrine. Here's a link to an article by Michael Hopkin of Bio Ed Online about the bill deformities. You can also read more about it at Boreal Partners in Flight and at Project Feeder Watch through Cornell University.

Weird MN Hummer

Thank you to everyone who has responded that they have found owls up north! I'm so excited that people are getting a chance to view this spectacle. I've been so focused on owls I haven't mentioned about a hummingbird that has shown up in Duluth as well.

Laura Erickson who is the bird lady of the Duluth area has had a hummingbird showing up since last Tuesday. The identification of which species still appears to be up in the air, but it is for sure not a ruby-throat. If you are in the Duluth area and want to try and see this unusual bird you can visit Laura's site to learn about where to park, directions and what not.

Hummingbirds are hardy little creatures. With a steady supply of food they can survive very cold temperatures. It will be interesting to learn if this bird sticks around all winter (trust me, if this bird stays in Laura's yard she will do everything up to and including building it its very own heated town home to help it's survival) will need to be brought to a rehab center or fly off in another direction to parts unknown.

Where the Owls Are

I've received several requests for the map that I used to look for great gray owls and northern hawk owls. I printed out a map of Sax Zim Bog from the Iron Trail Website and then marked off all the spots that had been reported on the bird nets by Ben Yokel and Mike Hendrickson. We also found owls in other areas, it just became a matter of knowing what type of habitat to find them. If you like, you can print out the map and then mark down on it the owls from Ben and Mike's posts.

These were intersections with owls reported by Ben Yokel:

Northern Hawk Owls:
3 individuals along Hwy 53 between mile markers 43 and 45, just north of Cotton
4 individuals along Hwy 7, located 4.0, 5.0, 5.5, and 7.5 miles N. of 52 (Arkola Rd)
1 bird along 213 (McDavitt Rd), 5 miles N. of 28 (Sax Rd)
3 birds along 788 (Admiral Rd), located 2.6, 3.8, and 3.9 miles S. of 27 (Zim Rd)
1 bird along 28 (Sax Rd), 1 mile W of Hwy 7
1 bird along 133, 2.6 miles W. of Hwy 7
1 bird in Melrude, just S. of the Town Hall (the "election moniter" from Nov 2)

Great Grays Owls:
1 bird along Berg Lake Rd in Melrude
1 bird along Melrude Rd (59), 1 mile E of Hwy 53
1 bird along Randall Rd, 0.5 miles N. of 52 (Arkola Rd, ~1 mile W. of Cotton)
2 birds along Admiral Rd (788), 3.6 and 4.0 miles south of Zim Rd (27).
The bird 4 miles S of Zim Road was an off-white dilute-plumaged bird, possibly the same individual seen earlier this year along 28 and 207.

These were intersections with owls reported by Mike Hendrickson:

Northern Hawk Owl
.2 miles south of Stone Lake Rd. (319)
At the intersection of 319 and Co. Rd 7
1.5 miles south of Co. Rd 232 (Lake Nichols Rd) on Co. Rd 7
1.25 miles south of Co. Rd. 232 on Co. Rd 7

Two Great Grey Owls were seen on Co. Rd 133 4.4 miles east of Co. Rd 7.

On our trip on Tuesday we found two great gray owls in a Wildlife Management Area about six miles north of the town of Cotton off of 53.

We also found two great gray owls within a mile of each other on 133 about 3 miles east of 7. We also found a great gray on 52 just west (about half a mile) of 7.

Keep in mind that the birds can be found in these general areas and they don't always stay put (they do have wings after all), and to watch closely. Some general tips when looking for owls include:

1. If you stay in your vehicle you can get relatively close without scaring the owls. You really don't need to do any hiking in the bog, the birding can all be done from the comfort of your vehicle!

2. Watch for northern hawk owls on the tops of trees. They fly much faster than other birds and their wings have a sort of falcon shape as they large long and somewhat pointed like a falcon. They can look about crow size or a little smaller when perched on top of a tree or telephone pole.

3. Watch for great gray owls (which are just HUGE) about eye level in areas with lots of trees. We found several near the road sitting on old snags but it is possible to sometimes find them on top of spruce trees or fence posts in the open.

4. Roads can be either numbered or named. For example, 202 is also Owl Avenune (not so good for owls this year, but great for boreal chickadees)

5. Watch for other vehicles that are slowing or stopped on the side of the road, chances are it's another birder who has spotted an owl.

Good Luck and I hope you get some owls!!!

Birding in the Bog

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.

The fog yesterday at Sax Zim made for a beautiful morning. I was driving so spotting birds as well as photographing them was difficult. I love this photo because it shows the mystery and excitement of looking for great gray owls in the bog. The large lump on the left is a great gray owl sitting in a tree along the side of the road.

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.

Another highlight included a rough-legged hawk that let the van pull up right next to it while it was studying something scurrying on the ground below. This is one of the best looks at a roughy I've ever had!