Every so often in our quirky, obsessive hobby of birding, someone gets the idea of doing a Big Year in the hopes of becoming a record holder for his or her county, state, or continent. Pursuing such a number is nothing new and most birders succumb to number seeking in one way or another. Maybe I’m a bit biased because of my personal investment, but when Tommy DeBardeleben announced his Owl Big Year, I was genuinely intrigued. According to Tommy, he must see and photograph all 19 species of Owls that regularly occur in the United States in 2016. Seeing all the Owls in one’s lifetime is quite the achievement, let alone seeing them all well in a single year. Tommy got off to a good start in Minnesota in January and has continued knocking out Owl species left and right since he got back to Arizona.
Just as surprising as Tommy’s Owl Big Year announcement was his decision to return to Minnesota in June. The TOBY immediately makes Eastern Screech-Owl the number one target for his return to the land o’ lakes. Not only does he need it for the TOBY, but it would also be a lifer for him. As Tommy’s host, the pressure is on…again. Unlike those winter Owls, though, I have only ever seen one ESOW in my life and not by any skill on my part {gulp}. ESOW is a year-round resident that can be found throughout the state. That does not translate into them being easy finds. I’ve made seeing/finding the easternmost Screech species my main goal for 2016. It is a good goal, a solid goal. It has given some direction to this new year of birding in which I was just drifting along. It is a goal that requires a great deal of inquiry of wise old Owlers as well as searching on my own–no stone unturned as they say, or more appropriately, no cavity unchecked.
This Eastern Screech-Owl was brought to the public’s attention this past week when skillful Twin Cities Owler Erik Berg discovered it on a regular cavity check in Minneapolis. Since then, the bird paparazzi have been encamped underneath this tree.
Will this Owl be around for Tommy? Doubtful. Still, it had been a long time since I had me an ESOW sighting. I had to go check it out and scope out the lay of the land for the TOBY, just in case. Also, I had never seen ESOW eyes before.
Since this Owl was just 5 minutes from my brother’s house, the kids came along and got some solid cousin time. Jason joined me on this Owl check-up and got some great looks through others’ scopes.
After going back to Jason’s house, I came back a little later for one last check hoping the Owl would be more in the open. It was slightly better this time.
Rest up, little buddy, you may have quite the visitor to entertain in a few months.
So the Long-eared got Evan caught up with me on Owls at 14 Species. Then there was that Northern Saw-whet I went to see, which for reasons I still cannot figure out, Evan opted out of that easy, guaranteed, short chase and instead went to his sister’s dance practice. Once again the Owl numbers were askew. However, our whole family recently made a stop at the Saw-whet location so my coworker, Brad, could collect the pellets for some science students to dissect. Evan got his lifer and tied me once again. A bonus was that we saw it with an un-pelletized deer mouse.
Evan and I both now stand at 15 Owl species apiece. Here are the species we have seen listed in the order that Evan saw them:
The Saw-whet is not much bigger than a pop can. I don’t think I’ve seen an animal that’s cuter. Jeremy’s friends pinpointed it for us right away. That was probably a good thing…
Occasionally it looked at me.
But it was mostly captivated by Steve.
What was fascinating to me was how sloth-like this Owl was in moving its head. The movement was almost indiscernible. The fact that we were finally looking at a real Northern Saw-whet Owl combined with a close encounter with a tame bird makes this one of the best Owl experiences I’ve ever had.
After taking last looks at the Owl and admiring the massive pile of pellets and all the whitewash from an Owl that has sat in this same spot every day for the winter, Steve and I thanked the homeowners and headed home feeling good…or evil. Steve called up his twin brother who is also a birder and rubbed in his new lifer. I went to the liquor store.
Long-time readers of ABWCH may recall that two years ago, my coworkers and students were feeding me sightings nearly daily of a crazy number of Snowy Owls. Those were the gold old days of the first of two consecutive irruption years. Fellow teacher, Bonnie, spotted this one this past weekend. Bonnie has a way with the SNOW–she found me two of them a couple years ago.
Despite this being a non-irruption year, I’ve had reports this winter of at least 5 Snowy Owls in my two-county birding area. This, however, is the first local one I’ve seen this season. Fellow teacher and birding friend Brad relocated Bonnie’s find Monday morning. Brad did the Minnesota-nice birder thing of babysitting it until I got on scene. Another birding/teacher friend, Theresa, also joined the mix. Monday was a scheduled day off for all of us, yet here we were holding a staff meeting in the open countryside. It was a pretty good meeting.
After this meeting of the minds, I actually went off to a real meeting at school. But then it was back to birding business as I traveled up to Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge that same day to look for the White-winged Crossbills that have become very reliable there. My previous lifer-sighting was a quick glimpse at a female; I was wanting to see and photograph a male.
Fumbling with the scope barehanded in 30 below caused me to climb back on the bus immediately after setting up the apparatus, but eventually I did get back out for a couple quick photos myself.
Another crowd favorite were both species of Grosbeaks, though on this day I only photographed the “yellow ones” as locals sometimes call them.
I checked in with Mr. Florida a couple times throughout the day to see what his lifer tally was. Besides the Great Gray, both Grosbeaks, and the Chickadee, he also picked up Northern Shrike, Common Redpoll, and a surprisingly hard-to-find Gray Jay. Despite missing on Ruffed and Sharp-tailed Grouse, Mr. Florida had the highest lifer total for our group. He was happy, especially because he told me he was not expecting the Great Gray.
After birding for some time, our day was truncated late afternoon and did not allow for more Owl searching during prime evening hours as we had to get back to Meadowlands for the dinner and program by Canadian Great Gray Owl researcher, Dr. James Duncan. Listening to an authority on Great Gray Owls give a captivating presentation in a Canadian accent is like a giant exclamation point on a day in which many got their coveted lifer.
These were photo upgrades for me, though much work still needs to be done with this species. Considering I was sandwiched between a bus and a snowbank, I’ll take them though.
Then again, maybe I should have considering the address.
Our group continued on from the B&B searching towns on the way back for the ever elusive Bohemians. A Snowshoe Hare, thought he was elusive and brought some excitement to the group when the birds were lacking.
With one major bird lifer and one mammal lifer for the group, it was a long, sleepy day. We did have a slight pick-me-up when we were coming back into the Sax-Zim Bog and spotted a very out-of-season Common Grackle. But still, it’s a Grackle and doesn’t come close to filling the Sprucie void. There’s always next year. After all, it gives the festival-goers and guides a reason to return. As if they need another reason…
Something even more amazing happened while we tried to lure out this guy–a second Black-back showed up! There was a male and a female! Unfortunately I never did see that classic field mark of the yellow crown on the male, but Tommy and Gordon each got to see it. I will continue to search for these birds until I finally see that and finally get good photos of this species.
Brakes were deployed, and doors were flung open. It was a happy moment indeed. If you look, you can even see a big smile on Tommy’s face in this pic.
I’ve seen plenty of Hawk Owls, so it was fun to watch these guys enjoy the moment. For this pic below I actually laid on the cold 310. 
A nice bonus occurred when we were observing the Hawk Owl–Tommy spied their lifer Pileated Woodpecker fly across the road! I had told Gordon all along that if we see a Pileated, that’s exactly how it would happen.
Once we got on the Roosevelt Road, I was very excited. This was a desolate forest we were entering, and I wondered at the possibilities it held for us. There wasn’t a lot of bird life except for some Pine Grosbeaks. Once we got in the vicinity of the reported Hawk Owl, the habitat looked perfect–large open areas surrounded by Tamaracks. It practically screamed Hawk Owl. I mean, it must have, because Tommy heard the message and spotted a super distant, tiny blob in the MIDDLE of a tree that turned out to be…another Hawk Owl!! We were on Cloud 9.
Turns out we needn’t have bushwhacked because this accommodating little fellow must have felt sorry for Gordon and flew practically right up to him. Even Gordon couldn’t resist wading into the snow for this new perch. Get ‘im Gordon!
Get ‘im Tommy!
Even though the blue skies and the hoarfrost were gone, this was my favorite Hawk Owl experience of the day. We were totally alone in the middle of the remote Beltrami Island State Forest with this Owl. There was not even another bird around. Truly, it was an idyllic setting.
Upon closer inspection, though, it looked very sickly. It did not move even as we pulled up alongside it. While we watched, it made feeble attempts at gnawing on this slab of meat which came from where? Clearly this cat could not eat what was in front of it, let alone kill something. Sad.
It was an incredible trip to the Northwest and one I won’t forget anytime soon. The day was capped off with a hot meal at the Wooden Table in Angora and the relaxation of knowing that we could “sleep in” the next day even though we had another exciting birding itinerary for the day of Tommy and Gordon’s departure.
After this, we made a stop at Canal Park in Duluth to see what was going on Gull-wise. The guys picked up a handsome Thayer’s Gull lifer, but that was about it. I couldn’t even muster up a Black Duck for the guys. I did, however, do my Minnesota duty and made Tommy and Gordon skip rocks in Lake Superior.
Tommy and Gordon quickly tallied this lifer as well as the Iceland Gull lifer. They also got to witness the spontaneous birder parties that happen at Canal Park as the who’s who of Duluth birders show up to enjoy the Gulls, look for the really wacko stuff (Ivory Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake), toss bread out to bring the Gulls closer, take orders for what Gulls everybody is still looking for, and generally be friendly tutors to those of us still illiterate in Gull identification. Peder Svingen, Clinton Nienhaus, and John Richardson were all on hand this particular afternoon to confirm species ID and point out the cool Gulls from the Herring herd. Even when some of us were distracted with trying to get a THGU/Lighthouse combo pic…
The wing tags help Dave monitor and identify the Owls from afar without having to stress them with recapture. Here is the first Snowy Owl we saw just before #28 above.
I wish Tommy and Gordon could have seen unmarked Snowy Owls, but a marked Snowy seen is better than an unmarked Snowy not seen! Ironically, these were the first marked Snowy Owls I had ever seen in real life. Tommy and Gordon did get to gain an appreciation for the types of urban habitats these birds often winter in.
It was another rocking day of birding in the north that met or even exceeded expectations. Notable misses included American Black Duck and Bohemian Waxwing. On a sad, personal note, my Kittiwake lifer did not make an appearance. Here is a run-down of the second day’s lifers:
and over…
and over.
Not only was it thrill to watch these guys get this incredible lifer, but I also enjoyed seeing a Great Gray in a new (to me) part of the Bog. It doesn’t matter where these guys are, though. They are just plain cool.
The guys even got to see the males of this new lifer doing their courtship dances! That was topped off by the Grouse coming roadside to feast at a local resident’s feeders before retiring for the day. It really couldn’t have been a better experience for viewing this bird.
This is a bird I previously had terrible photos of, so this felt good to see a male up close.
And of course, there were Common Redpolls which is a lifer for the guys. There are always Redpolls. This one had some potential for…oh, who cares anymore?
The Boreal Chickadees had started to become a regular at the Admiral Road feeders not more than a week before the guys arrived. Tommy and Gordon were truly spoiled with this lifer. It appeared within a minute of us stopping at the feeders. How many birders, myself included, have waited for an hour or more only to be skunked? Additionally, it came out often, like every minute instead of every half hour. Like the Great Gray, this bird is not a given. Also like the Great Gray, much face time is required with this bird. I would estimate that we spent equal time with it as we did with the Owl. For me this bird ranks just below a Great Gray Owl but definitely above a Snowy Owl. As such, I am on a never-ending quest to get a photo of a BOCH that I am happy with.
My first lifer for 2015 was a Townsend’s Solitaire, but that’s not why this bird is here. The reason this bird made the cut is that I found one on my own in the old hometown. That’s a pretty sweet feeling on multiple levels.
I had five Owl lifers in 2015. In an ordinary year, they’d all deserve one of the top 10 slots. Spotted Owl should probably occupy this slot because of its threatened status, but I just really enjoyed seeing this Pygmy in Hunter Canyon. This tiny Owl was cool just by itself, but the experience made it even better. This is just one of the dozens of life birds that Tommy DeBardeleben and Gordon Karre found for us. Just as much fun as seeing these birds was becoming friends with these guys. There is no doubt that we will have many more adventures together in 2016.
This is probably one of the most common Owls of all my Owl lifers. But rarity status alone does not make for the best experiences. What made this bird so fun was the context in which it occurred. First, night-birding with flashlights adds a whole new level excitement to this hobby. Chris Rohrer said it best when he said it makes you feel like a little kid again to be outside after dark past bedtime. Second, this Owl was so cooperative for Tommy DeBardeleben and me that we got to pose for some laughter-inducing selfies. This is probably the most fun I’ve ever had birding.
2. Gyrfalcon
Now here’s one that I wasn’t expecting, as in at all, as in ever. 2015 was the year of the Gyrfalcon. I picked up my lifer in Superior, WI early in the year, but what catapulted this bird near the top of this list was when I accidentally stumbled on the bird pictured above right here in Kandiyohi County, giving me my state and county bird in one sweet shot with a good photo op to boot. Considering one hadn’t been seen in Minnesota in nearly three years, I was just a little excited when Bob Dunlap and a host of birding experts told me my misidentified Peregrine was actually a Gyr.
This bird had the top spot locked down before 2015 even began. This was a very special bird that Evan and I made a special trip to Montana to see. We got this lifer in the company of my dad who researched this bird extensively in the 1970s for the Montana Fish&Game Department (presently called the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks). We didn’t just see this bird. From a blind we got to observe the males doing their elaborate courtship displays on the lek. There was no better way to add this bird to the life list. The Greater Sage-Grouse was hands-down the best bird of 2015. A special thanks goes out to John Carlson for setting up the adventure, Charlie Eustace for joining us, Leo and Jo Jurica for hosting us, and to my dad for humoring my idea. It was a pleasure to meet John and Charlie and go on a very memorable outing together.
