Boreal Owl 001

There have been a lot of owls in Northeastern Minnesota this winter but my opportunities to see them have been pretty scarce until this week. I walked out to put sunflower seeds in our bird feeder and came across this beautiful Boreal Owl. Karla and I got to watch it for some time. Boreal Owls aren’t seen very often as they usually feed at night. They are only 8 inches tall.

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Coughing up Pellet

It was catching mice as I got to photograph it expelling a pellet. Owls can’t digest the bones so the indigestible parts of the mouse get wrapped into a tiny fur ball and the owl coughs it up approximately two hours after eating.

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Boreal Owl 002

The owl flew into a couple of different trees as the sun was setting. This photograph taken as it started hunting again was my favorite

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Boreal Owl 003

After the sun set a couple of deer came by and were a little spooked by the owl staring at them. The doe kept stomping her front feet until the owl flew off.

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Saw-whet Owl 001

A saw-whet owl also came to the bird feeder. The saw-whet is the smallest owl in Northern Minnesota at only 6 inches tall. If I wouldn’t have seen it fly into the tree I would have never found it hidden among the branches. It let me get pretty close to capture some photos as it cozied up on a branch soaking up the warmth of the sun.

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Saw-whet Owl 002

Soon it started listening and looking for mice.

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Saw-whet Owl 003

I felt pretty fortunate to photograph these seldom seen owls, let alone see them both in the same week.

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Sawtooth Mountain Sunset 001

The week ended with a nice sunset. At first it was a bright orange.

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Sawtooth Mountain Sunset 002

After the sun set the whole western sky turned red.

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