Snowy Owl!

I saw my first Snowy Owl in the wild today!  It counts as both a Big Year bird for me as well as a life lister.  It was thrilling to see this great hunter of the tundra grace the shore of Lake Superior in Grand Marais, Minnesota.

Over the last week, I had heard several reports of this owl around Artist Point, and the Grand Marais Municipal campground.  After eating lunch with some old friends, we searched both locations for the bird.  We did not find it at that time, but did talk to another avid birder, and he told us where some of the recent sightings had been.  Shortly after that, I had to go to the radio station to do my first show.

About two and a half hours later, one of my friends called me, and said he was looking at the Snowy Owl at the D.N.R. boat landing.  When my dinner break came a half hour later, I went down to see if I could find it.  After a little searching, I saw it sitting on the ground next to the harbor.  It was eating a gull, but kept a close eye on me while I took a few pictures.  I have a 60 x optical zoom on my camera, so I was able to photograph it from a distance.

130. Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) - Grand Marais Harbor, Lake Superior, MN

This is an immature Snowy Owl.  They are the most likely ones to come out of the Arctic for the winter. 

The darker bars are also an indicator of immaturity.  Adult male Snowy Owls can be almost pure white, and adult females are not as dark as the immature birds.

December 5th Birding Update

I have added one new species since my last post, number 129 in my Big Year, the Evening Grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus) on Thanksgiving.  They were just around for one day, and  all four appeared to all be juveniles.

In the last few days, I have seen a lot of other birds on the Gunflint Trail.  Some of them are pictured below:

Male Pine Grosbeak

Male Pine Grosbeak

Common Redpoll

Female Pine Grosbeak

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

The Common Redpolls and Pine Grosbeaks migrate to their wintering grounds on the Gunflint Trail from their breeding ground in the Arctic.  The Blue Jays and Black-capped Chickadees are here throughout the year.