I am not sure when the first Great Gray and Northern Hawk Owls were reported from MN, perhaps mid-November, but the latest figures I have heard of 700 Great Gray and 140 Hawk Owls throughout MN give an idea of the scope of the irruption going on here.

From Gary Himber:

"The irruption is likely the result of the four year low point in the population cycle of the small rodents that make up most of the prey for these species, combined with a very wet and cold summer across Canada that resulted in a further reduction in the available food. Numbers of these species increase in our area every four years or so (following the prey cycle), but this year's irruption is unprecedented."

Friends of mine were following all the latest news and decided a trip was in order to see these two owls in particular and whatever else was around.

Participants: Karen Johnson, Martha Beebe, Janet Crawford, and myself – Sandra Keller.

Dates: December 1 to 5, 2004

Travel: Time off from work was not really a problem for all of us, but money was, so a road trip was decided upon. The final mile tally was 3100. The one-way drive time was about 22 hours. A long drive, but good talk and good music made it go quickly. The route: The NE extension from Phila, PA to I-80 west to I-90 to I-94 to Rt. 53 north from Eau Claire, Wisconsin straight into Duluth, MN which was our base for 2 nights at the Sea Breeze Inn on Lake Superior. Went around Chicago going out, came through it coming home, and took I-76 through PA since it was Sunday. And we still hit traffic in PA.

Day 1: 12-1 – travel. Rain in the morning.

Day 2: 12-2 – travel to Duluth, checked into the hotel, and birded around the local area for the rest of the day. We had 6 inches of snow fall in the late morning.

Day 3: 12-3 – birding all day – Sax-Zim Bog and vicinity.

Day 4: 12-4 – birding in the morning at Sax-Zim Bog again. Left for home around 2:00PM

Day 5: 12-5 – travel. I arrived back at my house 7:00PM, then the others drove south for another hour.

Internet Sites: Here are some internet sites we used to look into the trip, research what was around, print out maps, etc. There are many others around that a search will turn up.

http://www.virtualbirder.com/vbirder/realbirds/rbas/MN.html#ORG

http://www.avianphotos.org/SaxZim/SaxZim.htm - a map of Sax-Zim – the owls are still moving around, but probably still up to date and perhaps will be updated.

http://www.birdingonthe.net/ - go to the list archives.

Species: We had 45 species total with the highlights (always relative) being the Great Gray and Northern Hawk Owls, Pine Grosbeaks, Redpolls, both Ruffed and Sharp-tailed Grouse, Boreal Chickadee (heard only), Gray Jays, Black-backed Woodpecker, Northern Shrikes, and Rough-legged Hawks.

Books: I brought Sibley East, A Birder’s Guide to Minnesota by Kim Eckert, and Paul Johnsgard’s North American Owls. We had a few more books between us.

We birded around Duluth Thurs. afternoon after deciding that Sax-Zim was too far away and would leave us little time to actually bird once we got up there. We chased the reported Pacific Loon with no luck. Actually, hardly any birds around at all. We searched some neighborhoods to the NW looking for both Great Gray Owl and Bohemian Waxwing with no luck on either species. Driving was slow with the snow covered back roads. A 4-wheel or all-wheel drive vehicle is a must up here this time of year. More so in Jan. when I presume many more JerseyBirders will be heading up there after the holidays. Needless to say, be prepared for bitter cold. Directions for birding the Duluth Harbor, the Lighthouse area, and maps of some of the suburbs are all in Eckert’s book. Hopefully more will be around in Jan.

Our big day – Friday, Dec. 3 – we started out early from Duluth north up Rt. 53 which forms the eastern boundary to Sax-Zim Bog. Takes about an hour and had us on site at dawn – about 7:30AM or so. Too follow along somewhat, use that map from the web site listed above. Saz-Zim Bog is a huge area of Spruce and Tamarack Trees, White Cedar Bogs, Alder and Aspen trees, and sedge meadows. From reading posts from MN, I believe Sax-Zim to probably be the best spot for visiting birders to see the owls and other northern specialties. The main roads are plowed, but most side rides are not, so remember that 4-wheel drive! The scenery for birders from the east was just spectacular with the snow actually enhancing the effect. Cold, but beautiful.  Our first bird of the day was Rough-legged Hawk. Nice to see many of these – mostly light-morphs – hunting over the fields. Soon after came the Northen Hawk-Owls – a lifebird for myself and Janet. Rt. 53 had 4 perched atop wires, trees, poles. This was just the beginning. Twenty-one more followed for the day. Wow!  Hawk-owl atop tree Once we got that search image down – dark-shape perched atop something, long-pointed tail occasionally cocked up, big head – we were finding them left and right. We basically worked our way south and west from the intersection of Rts. 53 and 16. Rt. 7 is a major N-S road through the bog and proved very birdy to boot. Stone Lake Rd. had a house with feeders that proved productive with the Boreal Chickadees, Pine Grosbeaks, Redpolls, etc. Pic – Pine Grosbeak. One of our Black-backed Woodpeckers for the trip was a flyby right over us along Rt. 7. The 4 Sharp-tailed Grouse flew into trees, then the road side along Rt. 7 just south of Rt. 28. Our first Gray Jay was along Rt. 788. Etc. Etc. We just basically traveled up and down the roads seeing what was around. But of major concern was our lack of Great Gray Owls. What was going on? We were actually starting to get a little bit nervous. After all the reports, we expected them to be around just like the Hawk-Owls. Time to try a different area – Melrude – just to the east of Rt. 53 and Sax-Zim Bog. Not on the internet map I printed out. Printing out more detailed maps from a mapping program is advised. Janet and Martha both did that. Great Grays were reported from there. Comstock Lake Rd. and Melrude Rd. were the best with 6 Great Gray Owls between them. Two more for 8 total for the day – all between 2:15 and 3:45PM. Hard to miss. Big, dark, conspicuous on their perches out in the open – unlike a Long-eared Owl let’s say that plasters itself next to the treetrunk. This picture was taken by Janet.  Great Gray owl in woods. A lifebird for all but me. Pressure was now off and we could enjoy Sat. morning just driving around seeing what was there. I will still remember one Great Gray as the light was failing. It’s back was toward us. Just a big, dark shape. Then it turned its head to face us. That white mustache stood out like a beacon! Beautiful!

Sat. morning – we decided to go back to Sax-Zim and see if we could track down Boreal Chickadee for a look and not just a heard only plus Bohemian Waxwing. We saw neither, but in our travels saw 9 more Hawk-Owls (some the same as Friday), 4 more Great Grays, and 2 Ruffed Grouse. The Grouse were spotted along Owl Ave. – Rt. 202 – by eagle-eyed Janet. Just feeding off of buds. My best look ever at the species. This picture was taken by Janet.  Ruffed Grouse. Yes, we did have one Hawk-Owl and our last bird of the trip – another Great Gray – along Owl Ave. Seemed appropriate! This last owl proved the best for picture taking. pic. Great Gray – close-up. We left for home after that. One final note on the Great Gray Owls – I was convinced after Friday and not seeing any til the late afternoon, that they just roosted during the day deeper in the woods and came out to the woods’ edges later in the afternoon to get ready to hunt. I still think that might be true, but after Sat. and seeing some all during the morning up til 1:00PM, I think they just weren’t in the areas we hit on Friday. So, don’t waste your time in one area. Drive around. They are hard to miss.

It was one of those "trips of a lifetime" with all those all sightings! I am happy to answer any specific questions. Just email me at skeller@snip.net and I’ll get back to you. Thanks again to my 3 traveling companions – it was grand!

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