Snowy Owls in Northern Minnesota

Snowy Owl in Thief River Falls 11/23/11 3pm

A decade or so ago, I took my first trip out to the Red River Valley - in the winter.  I wanted to see a Snowy Owl.  I had read somewhere that the Grand Forks area is one of the most reliable places to see them in the upper mid-west. 

I remember packing my husband, Tom, and my gear into the car.  I remember heading west on I-94.  And I remember the snowstorm.  Tom will never let me forget that snowstorm.

We stopped at the Visitor Center in Grand Forks - to get directions to the nearest Snowy Owl.  I remember Tom shaking his head as we got out of the car.   Someone in there at the Visitor Center will have directions for you, he said.  Yah, sure.  

Undaunted by his skepticism, I asked the woman behind the desk.  No, I don't know where you could see one, but, she said with a smile, I'll call someone who probably does.  I watched her get on the phone and talk with a guy named "Mike."  She took notes.  

After a few minutes, she turned to me and gave me directions to a farm out past the Air Force Base.  I thanked her and we headed back out into the snowstorm.   Tom asked:  Can't we go to the motel?  No, I said, I want to see a Snowy Owl.

We drove for what seemed like forever (in the snowstorm), looking for the landmark "Mike" gave us:  a "garage door with a bison" painted on it.   After awhile, Tom said:  this is a wild goose chase.  That guy "Mike" must have had a good laugh when he made up these directions.

Then I laughed - and pointed.  Right in front of us was the garage with the bison.   We took another look at the directions:   look across the street at the only big tree out in the field.  

We looked.  And there it was!  A Snowy Owl in a snowstorm - up in a tree. 

Minutes later, a car pulled up next to ours.  A man in a business suit got out and said:  I just wanted to be sure you found the owl.  I'm Mike Jacobs.

I've never forgotten that owl, Mike Jacobs (editor and publisher of the Grand Forks Herald) and the welcome we got at the Greater Grand Forks Visitor Center.

It's Snowy Owl season again in the Red River Valley.  Now that I live out here, I've started asking people I meet - have you seen any owls?

The answer has been a surprise.  More often than not:  yes!

Electricians doing work on my house last week mentioned one near US 75 north of Warren and another in Viking.   

 

Warren Sewage Lagoons  11/18/11

I spotted the Warren owl, a young male, last Saturday over by the sewage lagoons.   

Shelley Steva spotted one over by Oklee.  Nancy Mattson said her husband spotted one north of Warren and another across the Red River by Grafton.  Faith Rud said a neighbor spotted one along the CRP land south of MN Hwy 1.  And Mary Casavan, Red Lake Falls Librarian said one flew in front of her car on MN Hwy 32 at the Pennington County line.

I was thinking about owls this afternoon as I drove to Thief River Falls for a meeting.  Tom came along for the ride.

Rough-legged Hawk

Along the way, we got a good look at a Rough-legged Hawk in a tree.  Later, where MN Hwy 1 intersects with County Roads 8 & 13, a Northern Shrike flew across the road in front of my car.  As we approached Thief River Falls, I'd just about given up on spotting a Snowy Owl.  

Then just as we passed the sign at the turn to the Thief River Falls sewage lagoons, Tom pointed and said:  pull over - there's there's one up on the pole!

Sure enough, there was a very large female Snowy Owl, watching the cars go by.  We watched her for 15 minutes, then she flew off to the east towards the sewage lagoons.

Another Snowy Owl in northwestern Minnesota - this time, without the snowstorm!

Redpolls in the Snow

My View from the South Beach of Lake Agassiz

It felt like snow this morning - gray, humid and bone-chilling cold.   As I walked out the door, it hit my eyeglasses first, then my cheeks.  The first serious snow of the season.

I had errands in town, but I am averse to driving on icy wet pavement.  So I turned around and went back inside to get my serious, snow-shoveling gloves.  The sky spit a fine white dust.  Later it turned wet.  I was grateful there was no wind.

There is a quiet tranquility in the first snow.

The only sounds came from my shovel, the muffled calls of birds near my feeders and an irritated red squirrel, scolding me for disturbing his peace.

After noon, I took a look out my kitchen window to see who's been visiting my bird feeding station.  Black-capped Chickadees bounced from the sunflower tube to the nearby willow stump, where they whacked open their seeds.  Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers pecked at the peanut butter suet cage.  Both Red- and White-breasted Nuthatches patiently took turns at the sunflower perches.  A handful of demure American Goldfinches lined up at the thistle feeder, sharing it with a lone Pine Siskin.

Then a "new" bird flew up to the thistle tube, scaring off the goldfinches.

At first I thought - another siskin.  But no, the bill was the wrong color and shape.  The new bird turned and cocked his head towards me - a Common Redpoll! The red cap and rosy chest cinched the ID.

My first of the season... and the first I've seen in years.

Common Redpoll

Redpolls, like their boreal cousins, are irruptive species.  According to Ron Pittaway's Winter Finch Forecast, this should be a great winter for spotting redpolls in Minnesota.

How do they know?

Fact #1:  Redpolls eat white birch seeds.  There wasn't much of a crop in Canada this fall.

Fact #2:  Redpolls also had a good breeding season this year - with double and possibly triple broods.

A poor food crop combined with a population explosion creates the "perfect storm" - resulting in an irruption year.

If you want to see them in your yard this winter - keep your sunflower and thistle/nyjer tube feeders full.