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Owls in Minnesota
On the evening news tonight was a story about an
owl "invasion" in Minnesota. Apparently due to a lack of food in Canada, many owls have moved south and there are record numbers of owls in Minnesota. Has anyone seen them, and if so what are conditions really like for photographing them? Roger |
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Roger,
I've been up to photograph them (I live in the Twin Cities area). A three weeks ago I spotted 38 in just 4-1/2 hours of driving backcountry roads north and west of Duluth in the Sax-Zim area (two small towns). Many were right next to the road and pretty much ignored us. Since these birds typically hunt in boreal forest openings they are right at home along the edges of wooded lanes. Since broken off stubs and snags are preferred perching places, we found owls on telephone poles, fence posts and even road signs. We didn't stop to photo those perched on signs at the edge of the road for the fear of spooking them; they need to be hunting right now and so driving them from those perches makes them use up extra energy. Take a look at these photos: www.visi.com/~gdietzman/CanoeCountry/GGO_1.jpg www.visi.com/~gdietzman/CanoeCountry/GGO_2.jpg www.visi.com/~gdietzman/CanoeCountry/GGO_3.jpg www.visi.com/~gdietzman/CanoeCountry/GGO_4.jpg All these shots were taken with a 300mm/1.4x/digital Rebel, or some such combination. We also saw five northern hawk owls, one of which was perched on a telephone cable next to the road. This is truly a remarkable irruption. Despite traveling, paddling, and hiking literally thousands of miles in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, I've never seen anything like this. For instance, a number of winters ago we had another irruption and in two days of driving north of Duluth, I saw five birds, only one of which I was able to approach (and this was on snowshoes over four feet of snow...exhausting work...). I thought that was a remarkable couple of days. This irruption is undoubtly a once in a lifetime event. As mentioned above, the owls pretty much ignored us. As a result, we were often within 50 feet of them for as long as we wanted to be. We often could watch one owl and spot another hunting some distance away. If you need more information, specific location, etc. please let me know. I'm going to try and get off work this Thursday and again on Saturday to head back up that way. Gordon Dietzman ------------------------------------ "Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark)" wrote in message ... On the evening news tonight was a story about an owl "invasion" in Minnesota. Apparently due to a lack of food in Canada, many owls have moved south and there are record numbers of owls in Minnesota. Has anyone seen them, and if so what are conditions really like for photographing them? Roger |
#3
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Those are some real beauties Gordon. Nice job. How very peircing the
eyes are. We had a big snow and i had the chance to shoot an owl, but no tc, so 300 put me out pretty far and i didn't get much. I enjoyed yours. rgds Ken |
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The Great Grey Owl is in invasion in south of Canada since december. It's
the greatest invasion since 20 years. It's due to lack of food that appears each 4-5 years. It is relatively active during the day, more active than other Owl. But the best time to see it in activities is early morning and late in PM. During the day, the Owl is in mode "digestion"............. if hunting were good. If not, the bird will continue to hunt until it finds a prey. Daniel ---------------------- "Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark)" a écrit dans le message de news: ... On the evening news tonight was a story about an owl "invasion" in Minnesota. Apparently due to a lack of food in Canada, many owls have moved south and there are record numbers of owls in Minnesota. Has anyone seen them, and if so what are conditions really like for photographing them? Roger |
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Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark) wrote:
On the evening news tonight was a story about an owl "invasion" in Minnesota. Apparently due to a lack of food in Canada, many owls have moved south and there are record numbers of owls in Minnesota. Has anyone seen them, and if so what are conditions really like for photographing them? Roger I don't know enough to know if they are from Canada or even if it is unusual, but I have seen more owls in central Ohio this year than I have ever seen before. -- Joseph Meehan 26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math |
#6
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Gordon Dietzman wrote:
Roger, I've been up to photograph them (I live in the Twin Cities area). A three weeks ago I spotted 38 in just 4-1/2 hours of driving backcountry roads north and west of Duluth in the Sax-Zim area (two small towns). Take a look at these photos: www.visi.com/~gdietzman/CanoeCountry/GGO_1.jpg www.visi.com/~gdietzman/CanoeCountry/GGO_2.jpg www.visi.com/~gdietzman/CanoeCountry/GGO_3.jpg www.visi.com/~gdietzman/CanoeCountry/GGO_4.jpg All these shots were taken with a 300mm/1.4x/digital Rebel, or some such combination. Gordon, These are great. Thanks for sharing. How much longer are the owls expected to stay around? Can you give any more info on best areas to go? If I can find some time, I might fly up and give it a try. Roger http://www.clarkvision.com |
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On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 19:59:53 -0700, "Roger N. Clark (change username
to rnclark)" wrote: On the evening news tonight was a story about an owl "invasion" in Minnesota. Apparently due to a lack of food in Canada, many owls have moved south and there are record numbers of owls in Minnesota. Has anyone seen them, and if so what are conditions really like for photographing them? Roger My family and I went on a day trip yesterday to the Sax-Zim Bog in search of these owls. We had imho great success in seeing 11 Northern Hawk Owls and 5 Great Gray Owls.... not nearly as many as have been reported by others in previous weeks, but due to the elusive nature of these owls, still an amazing day of photography. There was article in today's (Sundays) St. Paul Pioneer Press reporting the ornithologists union's Jan. 17 statewide census tallied 1715 Great Grays, 300 Northern Hawk Owls and 400 Boreal Owls. To give you an Idea of the rare nature of this irruption, in a normal winter survey, the numbers would be 35 Great Grays, six Northern Hawks and a single Boreal Owl. Conditions for photographing these birds are excellent, although a bit crowded at times. The Great Grays are typically perched on low branches and are easily approached as they rarely encounter humans in their natural habitat. I found many photographers staked out near birds waiting for that perfect shot...not hard to do with sunny sky's and temperatures in the 50's yesterday! The Northern Hawk Owls are a little harder as they are typically perched at the very top of the tallest trees. I was not quite able to reach them with my 300/2.8 with 2x tele, with some longer glass you might get some good shots. The Sax-Zim bog area (where I went) seems to still be a decent spot to go, but the birds have spread out more in recent days. We also managed to spot Black-Backed Woodpeckers, Northern Shrikes, Gray Jays and a Bald Eagle. Take care, Scotty |
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I have posted an album of our Sax-Zim owl trip at:
http://www.mulberry-creek.com/albums/ I have only been at this (photography) for less than a year, I hope you like my amateur attempts Constructive criticism welcome! Take care, Scotty |
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Were these Snowy Owls? We have had some in the Pacific Northwest.
Great big white owls. I used a 200mm lens with 2xTC and got a little blob of white on a dark marsh. We have been told that this occurs every 6-7 years when food in the Arctic is scarce. Don On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 19:59:53 -0700, "Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark)" wrote: On the evening news tonight was a story about an owl "invasion" in Minnesota. Apparently due to a lack of food in Canada, many owls have moved south and there are record numbers of owls in Minnesota. Has anyone seen them, and if so what are conditions really like for photographing them? Roger |
#10
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