Great Horned Owls

 The great horned owl is a common resident of forest through out most of North America and parts of South America. They are considered an edge species. This means that they prefer to nest in the woods close to open fields where they can hunt. They are primarily crepuscular, which means that they are most active at dusk and down. Like many species of owls great horned owls do not make their own nest. They usually "borrow" a hawks, herons, ravens, or crows nest or nest in a tree cavity. Sometimes, as in this case they will use a man maid object such as a nesting box.

Great horned owls are usually one of the first nesting birds here in the north. They are non-migratory so they stay on territory all year round. In January the courting begins, even though it is often between a pair that has previously mated. Once a nesting site is chosen the female lays her eggs and incubates them for 4 to 5 weeks. During this time the male's job is to bring home the bacon. After the eggs hatch the female continues to stay on the nest to keep the chicks warm until they are old enough to thermal regulate. Then both parents need to hunt to keep the hungry chicks fed. Great horns eat almost anything that they can catch. Typically where I live they eat a lot of rabbit. This pair of owls has nested in a public park here in the Twin Cities for many years, although this is the first time in this box. They are very popular with photographers and as you can see from the photo above they were quite bored with their fame and stardom. At this time of year the parents are preparing to evict the youngster soon so that they can get back to the business of producing a new clutch of chicks for me to photograph next year. 

Dragonhunter

 The dragonhunter is the largest dragonfly that we have here in the upper Midwest. It has an average length of about 3.3 inches, well short of the giant darner, which at 5 inches is the longest dragonfly in the US. The dragonhunter is beefier though. It's abdomen is so large that the tip often curls down in a J shape when they fly. They are typically found around moderate to swift flowing streams and rivers where they can live up to seven years in their larval form, called a nymph. They are fierce predators eating other large dragonflies, as well as butterflies including the toxic monarch butterfly.

Evening Grosbeak

 The evening grosbeak is a colorful member of the finch family that is found in North America. They breed in the cooler climates of Canada and the Rocky Mountains and winter through out much of the United States. They used to be considered more of a western species but in the mid 1800's they began to expand their territory eastward until by the 1920's they were found from coast to coast.

 During the winter evening grosbeaks are a frequent visitor to feeders where their large beak helps them to crack open seeds that smaller birds can not handle. Their winter diet consist mainly of seeds. However during the summer they turn to insects for the major part of their diet. They are particularly fond of caterpillars and spruce budworm larvae which they glean from trees.