Northern Hawk Owl in Cook County
2013-11-03

Uncommon in Cook County in the Fall season

This individual was found at dawn by Paul Budde, Doug Kieser, Jim Otto, and Brian Smith along the Gunflint Trail, ~3/4 mile north of Grand Marais. Thanks to a timely call from Doug, the Minn Birding Weekends group was able to see it as well a short time later. A few other N Hawk Owls have also been reported in the last couple weeks in northern Minnesota, somewhat earlier than normal, perhaps signaling that it will be a good winter for this species.

Kim R. Eckert (digiscope image with 25-50x Leica spotting scope)