[mou] Great Grey Owl, Pietz's Road, Aitkin County, Tuesday, Nov 2

[Becky]

I am again posting the following for my colleague.  As an aside, we have had 
frequent sighting of Rough-legged Hawks and Snow Buntings around Mille Lac 
county.
Cheers,
Becky Hylton

Hello birders,
I traveled up north from Onamia yesterday and had some great luck.  First I 
searched Rice Lake NWR for tundra swans, but between 2-3pm there weren't any 
swans present.  But lots of waterfowl, mostly at a great distance from the 
viewing platform.  Then I looked, without success for sharp-tailed grouse 
along Aitkin County Road 10 & TWP-380 near Palisade but couldn't find any. 
So I headed up to Pietz's Road on County Road 5, seeing a few rough-legged 
hawks and some small groups of snow buntings along the way.  Searched 
Pietz's for owls, but didn't see any.  Encountered 3 gray jays at the 
intersection of Pietz's Road and County Highway 18.  At around 4:50pm I 
headed off down the snowmobile/4-wheeler trail that heads straight south 
from the intersection of Pietz's and Highway 18.  After about .75 mile, I 
spotted the great grey owl perched atop a pine along the trail.  I was able 
to approach w/in 80 meters and watched the bird for 20 minutes before it 
started getting pretty dark.  She just flew back and forth betweent the tops 
of several pines and wasn't very concerned with me.  What an incredible 
bird!  Happy birding!
Jason Hill