I recently made an overnight trip to Sax-Zim Bog and encountered several birds that are not common visitors to our St. Paul area. I had hoped to see the Great Grey Owl that was frequenting an area close to the Admiral Road bird feeders but came up short. I also saw Boreal Chickadees and Northern Shrikes but given the distance at which I took the pictures, they didn’t turn out great. The Snowy owl would ordinarily be an exceptional sighting but this winter has witnessed an irruption of well over 250 sightings so far in Minnesota. Here is a link if you would like to view a map showing all the Snowy owl sightings since November, 2013 – https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215779442560997336854.0004ee2b1fd714d205220&msa=0 . In order are the Northern Hawk Owl, Grey Jay, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Raven and Snowy Owl. As always, you can click on any image to see it in a larger version.
somehow i lost your email address! i wanted to tell you that this morning (march 13) i saw the female owl on the nest in como. so she’s definitely brooding and there will be owlets soon!!