Boreal Owl Photo.

[Borealhunter]

I was out birding yesterday afternoon on my own when I found this owl roosting out in the sun.

Mike k.

Duluth

[JayinMN]

Nice find Mike!

[Steve Foss]

Nice one, Mike!

[buzzsaw]

Wonderful! I hadn't seen one that close up until recently! Thanks for sharing.

[Borealhunter]

I was roughly about 50-60 feet away from the owl and used my spotting scope set at 40X and zoomed my digital camera up to fill the eyepiece and shot a few rounds doing the digiscoping method. The photo sucks but hey its a Boreal Owl photo to share on this forum.

I love your photo of the full moon at Split Rock Lighthouse Mike.

Mike k.

[buzzsaw]

Hey man, its not easy getting close to those Owls! Its actually smart to not get TOO close.

Thanks, that Lighthouse shot was in your backyard pretty much.

[finnbay]

Excellent capture! I've only seen a couple of these in my life, and never so "close"!

[jonny_redhorse]

Great find and great capture Mike!.....I certainly have never come across one....maybe I did and never knew it...they do somewhat resemble a NHO.....

[Borealhunter]

Jonny:

There a few differences: Boreal Owls are slightly larger than Northern Saw Whet Owl with a squarish head. The best identification mark is that Boreal Owl's have a distinct black ring or face edging. Northern Saw Whet Owls have no black ring around face and look more brownish red vs Boreal's grayish brown.

Boreal Owls were banded in good numbers outside of Duluth during the 2008 fall season. Every four-five years they irrupt due to prey items they feed on crash so they move south into northern states or southern Canadian providences like Ontario.

I suspect more of these owls will pop up in northern Minnesota and remember they are listed as a threaten species in Minnesota. The Boreal Owl I spotted yesterday looked stressed and ill. I be surprised if it survived over night. A Boreal Owl was found dead in Two Harbors the other day. I found one Boreal Owl in 2005 in Sax Zim along CR 52 near Cotton. Looking forward to view better photos of Boreal Owls by some of you guys. They are around just need to know where to look I guess.

[jonny_redhorse]

Thanks Mike for the more excacting info on the boreal...Maybe someday I'll meet up with one of these guys...

[MN Shutterbug]

I am really getting owl envy.