Boreal Owls in MN

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Boreal Owls in MN

OwlsEyes
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p.1 #1 · Boreal Owls in MN

At the risk of flooding this board with yet another owl series, I thought I share some news. It looks like Boreal Owls have moved south into MN along the North Shore of Lake Superior. The last time I saw and photographed a Boreal Owl it was in 1997. Back then I shot about 7 rolls of Kodachrome and it was at that time that I started my web presence as "owlseye." Funny side note... when I chose my user name for FM a long time ago, I mis-typed the name as "OwlsEyes" and I just let it go.

Anyway, these are inhabitants of Canadian Boreal forests, but tend to be invisible to most who look for them. Unlike the Great Grays and flashy Hawk Owls of the Northwoods, these owls are barely larger than Saw Whets. One report suggests that there are 40 Boreals along the north shore, though we could only find one. This little guy was pretty cooperative, flying twice and hunting the edge of the forest. The take off was so fast that my in flight shot is a blur!

Posted are 3 shots... First two 5D iii + 300 f2.8L IS + 1.4x & third shot with 7D + 100-400 f4.5L IS
thanks for looking and regards,
bruce

2013 © OwlsEyes

Feb 11, 2013 at 03:03 AM

randysc
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p.1 #2 · Boreal Owls in MN

Cute little guy, I'm just discovering how much fun they are, got my 1st Owl shot a couple weeks ago (Barred Owl) and that's all I'm looking for lately

I like 3 the best.

Randy

Feb 11, 2013 at 03:10 AM

KCollett
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p.1 #3 · Boreal Owls in MN

Great find, and a nice little set of images. Well done.

Feb 11, 2013 at 03:12 AM

dorian
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p.1 #4 · Boreal Owls in MN

really great stuff! only seen this bird one time, in central park in nyc....

dorian

Feb 11, 2013 at 03:16 AM

surfnron
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p.1 #5 · Boreal Owls in MN

A nice set Randy, and a cute little fellow ~ Ron

Feb 11, 2013 at 03:46 AM

tfoltz
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p.1 #6 · Boreal Owls in MN

Randy,
Great shots Seems the only owls I can find are burrowing owls and GHO's.

-Tim

Feb 11, 2013 at 03:48 AM

Harry.C
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p.1 #7 · Boreal Owls in MN

Very nice find and pictures! The only boreal owl found near me was killed by magpies the same day it was discovered. I've been looking for them ever since without luck.

Cheers,
Harry

Feb 11, 2013 at 04:15 AM

DonGut
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p.1 #8 · Boreal Owls in MN

That is a beautiful owl. They remind me of spotted owls from Africa; but these guys are much tougher to find. Congrats on this difficult species. Don

Feb 11, 2013 at 04:58 AM

ashley138
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p.1 #9 · Boreal Owls in MN

Fantastic find!! I'm so jealous, I've wanted to see one of these guys for years and it's one of the few NA owl species that has evaded me. I wish I could make it to MN to see some. Seems like it's a good year to see them. Nice shots! Thanks for sharing.

Feb 11, 2013 at 06:59 AM

Conrad Tan
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p.1 #10 · Boreal Owls in MN

Bruce, these are simply incredible! I saw one there a couple weeks ago, but not out in the open like this. Wonderful!

Feb 11, 2013 at 07:00 AM

kmunroe
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p.1 #11 · Boreal Owls in MN

lovely job on the little owl Bruce

Feb 11, 2013 at 08:40 AM

OwlsEyes
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p.1 #12 · Boreal Owls in MN

randysc wrote:
Cute little guy, I'm just discovering how much fun they are, got my 1st Owl shot a couple weeks ago (Barred Owl) and that's all I'm looking for lately

I like 3 the best.

Randy

Hey Randy,
Keep it up... owl photography is a lot of fun. This family of birds really tugs out our emotion and imagination!
Thanks for the comment.
bruce

Feb 11, 2013 at 11:41 AM

OwlsEyes
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p.1 #13 · Boreal Owls in MN

KCollett wrote:
Great find, and a nice little set of images. Well done.

Thanks for your comment. The owl is about the size of a softball... sooo small! I was wishing for bigger glass but made the most of what I had.
regards,
bruce

Feb 11, 2013 at 11:42 AM

OwlsEyes
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p.1 #14 · Boreal Owls in MN

dorian wrote:
really great stuff! only seen this bird one time, in central park in nyc....

dorian

Thanks Dorian... like I said, I've only seen this species once before. It migrated farther south towards the Twin Cities and was pretty stressed. This little guy seemed really healthy. It successfully caught a vole just as I was setting up my rig and downed it nearly as fast.

regards,
bruce

Feb 11, 2013 at 11:44 AM

OwlsEyes
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p.1 #15 · Boreal Owls in MN

surfnron wrote:
A nice set Randy, and a cute little fellow ~ Ron

Hey Ron... it's Bruce (not Randy

) but I'll take the kind words just the same.

Thanks for looking.
bruce

Feb 11, 2013 at 11:45 AM

OwlsEyes
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p.1 #16 · Boreal Owls in MN

tfoltz wrote:
Randy,
Great shots Seems the only owls I can find are burrowing owls and GHO's.

-Tim

Tim...
Nothing wrong with either of those species... I love to photography Grays. Spent a chunk of the afternoon looking for one without any luck. As for burrowing owls... point me in the direction, I've yet to make a photo of a burrowing owl that I like.

If you're looking for the Boreal, now's the time to see one. A guy flew up from Seattle for two days just to photograph these little guys!
cheers,
bruce

Feb 11, 2013 at 11:48 AM

OwlsEyes
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p.1 #17 · Boreal Owls in MN

Harry.C wrote:
Very nice find and pictures! The only boreal owl found near me was killed by magpies the same day it was discovered. I've been looking for them ever since without luck.

Cheers,
Harry

Hey Harry, sorry to hear about that rather morbid sighting.
The birders in Northern MN are out their like an army now. I'm not going to say it's a sure thing, but If you want to see and photograph a Boreal, it looks like the North Shore of MN is the place to go for a week or two.

thanks for the comment,
bruce

Feb 11, 2013 at 11:50 AM

OwlsEyes
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p.1 #18 · Boreal Owls in MN

DonGut wrote:
That is a beautiful owl. They remind me of spotted owls from Africa; but these guys are much tougher to find. Congrats on this difficult species. Don

Thanks Don!
I was really excited about the prospects of shooting these little guys. I had planned to search for them on Sunday, but an impending storm forced me to change plans and head up north on Saturday. With barely any sleep we hauled ourselves 3 hours north to catch dawn before they retreated back into the spruce woods.

I feel pretty lucky to have gotten the shots I did!
cheers,
bruce

Feb 11, 2013 at 11:52 AM

OwlsEyes
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p.1 #19 · Boreal Owls in MN

ashley138 wrote:
Fantastic find!! I'm so jealous, I've wanted to see one of these guys for years and it's one of the few NA owl species that has evaded me. I wish I could make it to MN to see some. Seems like it's a good year to see them. Nice shots! Thanks for sharing.

Now's the time Ashley... if you decide to make the trip to ice box of the lower 48 let me know and I'll point you in the right direction.

thanks for you comments.
bruce

Feb 11, 2013 at 11:54 AM

OwlsEyes
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p.1 #20 · Boreal Owls in MN

Conrad Tan wrote:
Bruce, these are simply incredible! I saw one there a couple weeks ago, but not out in the open like this. Wonderful!

Hey Conrad,
I was wondering if you caught a glimpse of a boreal before the "leg incident"

It seems that they are now here just east of the Sax Zimm.... I was "lucky" to find some birders... they were a bit hostile, but when the owl flew towards us instead of away, all bets were off.

Thanks for your comment and hope that your recovery is fast.
bruce

Feb 11, 2013 at 11:56 AM

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