Yesterday I made a bit of an error when responding to people who e-mailed me about the eagle pics. I mistakenly told them that I would be posting pictures that I took of a great gray owls nest, when what I meant was that I took pictures of a great horned owls nest. I am quite aware of the differences between the two types of birds but unfortunately I frequently interchange the names when I am talking about great horned owls. Since I do not like to disappoint I have dug up a couple of great gray owl pics that I took during the 2004-2005 eruption.
Approximately every 4 to 5 years Minnesota sees an eruption of great gray owls that visit the northern part of the state. It is believed that these eruptions occur when the owl populations in Canada are high while the vole populations are low; voles look similar to field mice and the main diet of great gray owls. Typically these eruptions consist hundreds of younger birds that do not have their own hunting territory so when times get lean they follow the food source south.
The eruption of 2004-2005 was special though. Typical eruptions consist of a few hundred birds that migrate into the extreme northeast part of the state. The record number of birds counted in an eruption, prior to 2004-2005 was around 500. In 2004-2005 the number of great gray owls counted was over 5000. There was also a significant increase in the number of northern hawk owls and boreal owls that winter, but not quite to the extent of the great grays.
Unfortunately, it does not appear to be an eruption year for the inaugural Sax Zim Bog Festival of Birds which is taking place in a couple of weeks. It should be a great convention though. It appears as though they have some predictable northern hawk owls that we should see and some great gray and snowy owls have been spotted in the area so we may get a view of one of those also. Plus there are other winter species that we will hopefully see like the black backed woodpecker, boreal chickadees and others. If we have an eruption year next year then this convention will easily be the highlight of the year so I am already planning ahead.
January and February can be awfully long months here in Minnesota but if you are willing to brave the cold and work a little bit harder winter birding can be very rewarding. Last winter I made several trips up to the Sax Zim Bog area in northern Minnesota to do a little winter birding.
Besides all of the cool passerines that I had the chance photographed, which includes gray jay, common and hoary redpoll, white-winged crossbill, boreal chickadee, pine and evening grosbeak, black-backed and three-toed woodpeckers, and more, there were also quite a few raptors around. I was surprised to find a few eagles up on the bog when all of the water around was frozen. I assumed that they were able to remain because of a constant supply of roadkill which kept them fed.
The winter owls are a main reason why people come to this area. Especially after the eruption of 2004 and 2005 when great gray, boreal, and northern hawk owls came down to the area in the thousands from Canada in search of food. This eruption drew national attention and people from all over the country, as well as some from other countries, came to northern Minnesota to see all of the owls. That eruption was most likely a once in a life time occurrence however we do have owls that come down from Canada and winter in the area every year. Last year I spotted this great gray owl out on the hunt at dusk. I also spotted several northern hawk owls, one of the northern hawk owl pictures is in my 2010 calendar, and while at the 2009 Sax Zim Bog Birding Festival last year someone spotted a boreal owl. Unfortunately I was somewhere else at the time but I am still trying to get that boreal pic.
