Owls of Owl Avenue

[jonny_redhorse]

Guess the name of the road is fitting! .....apparently our forefathers years ago spotted these guys and figured they should be honored with a road in their name.....I spent a good portion of the day "bog lurking"...looking for anything that looked or resembled a bird...the stations were full of various avian species this fine day...

This guy has been in the area for a couple of weeks....

He's examining me as we exchange stares....

then along came an owl study person(Dave Alexander) and he immediately set forth his magic on the fine art of capturing a northern hawk owl for a leg band...here's the results!

yup, there's an owl in that campbells soup can!

"First you stuffed me in a soup can and what are you planning with that stick!

"Stare into my eyes!..."You are getting sleepy...sleepy!

"OK Big Guy!....You can let me go anytime!"(Owl Avenue looking north with the Arkola Road in the distance)

"Eye of the Owl"

[Steve Foss]

Really nice images, Jonny!

[Birdsong]

Those are awesome. He's littler than I thought. But that eye!!!

[Dbl]

Great stuff jonny!

[The_Duckslayer]

WOW! I keep going back and looking at that eye. It has a fascinating yet eerie look to it. Great pictures! Thanks for sharing! Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[Dotch]

Thanks for sharing the wonderful photos, jonny. Somehow as sharp as that beak looks, I'd probably be wearing leather gloves. Could easily see a hunk of my finger missing. This is something obviously left to the pro's.

[JayinMN]

Man I wish I would have been there, but of course I was a few minutes late! It was still interesting meeting Dave and learning a few things about our bog owls, like the hawk owls actually gaining weight down there. I did see the McDavitt hawk owl that he wanted to get banded on my way home.

[jonny_redhorse]

Thanks everyone!....It was a really coincidence that Dave happened on the NHO(this one I call "Little Hoot" )...He drove up just as I was finished taking a few images with my tripod/digiscope.It was amazing to see this owl come into his live mouse attached to a fishing line....the eyesight of these owls is truly and simply amazing!...that owl was on the tip of a 40' spruce about 100 yards away and Dave's bait/mouse wasn't on the road shoulder any more than 20 seconds and that owl spotted it ,swooped down and nailed it in about 5 seconds!....he then flipped his landing net over the top of it before the mouse was injured(not a scratch on the mouse)He flipped the net "just" before the owl's talons grabbed the mouse.....I was simply amazed at how fast this whole episode took place from start to finish!.....A car of birders from minneapolis arrived just as Dave stuffed the owl into the can to start doing his measuring of the feathers etc.(Jay also showed up a few minutes later also) and all the info gathering routine was just so informative...The couples young boy was watching all this and he had that excited smile the whole time as you can see in the photos.... Dave had a chance to have an "on the spot" teaching seminar right out in the field!....Thanks Dave!.....You're right Dotch on those talons,Dave had a few scratches but he was really careful to avoid the full grasp of those talons and beak...things are designed to do some damage for sure ....all in all,a great encounter of the owl kind!

[Jim Almquist]

That must have been very interesting Jonny and you are so lucky to have been there to see most of it.

[finnbay]

That is a great series and good info, jonny! Cool shots!

[jonny_redhorse]

Thanks again Ken and Jim......I've met Dave a few times in the area in the past....he sure knows his owls!....

[mnfishingal]

Great photos Johnny and thanks for sharing the adventure. I would have loved to see the banding process too. It's hard to imagine that their body is that small that they can fit in a can. They must be all feathers.

I'm curious if you or Jay have happened to catch this guy eating ribs at the feeding station you set up a couple of weeks ago.

[Paul]

That would have been a fantastic encounter for anyone. I am jealous there johhny. Those are some good images.

[jonny_redhorse]

Thanks again all.....Yes Denise,I did see that owl on the "carcass scraps" on the birch tree....I have never seen that behaviour before of these Owls so I'm assumimg that it's somewhat of an isolated happening... Later,I did watch him swoop down and grab grab a vole(could have been a redpoll as a flock was feeding close by as I didn't see what was in his talons) within 20 feet of that carcass so they certainly prefer live food over the deer suet...guess they are opportunists to a degree!...can't blame em when it's 25 below and hungry!