[mou] Pine County, MN Owls 1/16/05

[Alt, Mark]

Al Nelson and I traveled Pine County this afternoon to see if the owls =
are moving out. They are not. We did not look and run, but stopped for =
at least 3-4 minutes for each Owl, trying to get feeding footage on my =
Digital Video. I filmed all but 3 of these birds.
=20
Notes on GGOW observations and behavior:
*	These were all adult birds, with much brown, worn plumage visible =
inmost birds we studied
*	10 of the 22 GGOW were perched atop Utility Poles.
*	1 GGOW ( #1)was on a utility wire
*	These were very active, alert birds, all but 5 changing perches every =
3-4 minutes.=20
*	We stayed back at least 75 ft and shut the car off, except for one =
where Al stopped right under the bird - he didn't see it.=20
o	Two of the birds seemed disrupted by even this level of precaution. =
The rest were actively working face tilted to pick up rodent noise
*	2/3 of the GG0W were adjacent to farm land and close to farm =
buildings. =20
o	Rodents must be in abundance their, not hard to imagine
o	Pay special attention to farm building and field areas
*	The only bird that fed did so in a stand of Jack Pine, so we missed =
it.
*	GGOW are more abundant than ever in this county. Al Nelson lives =
locally, he sees them clustered every day but in different spots each =
day, they are not like Hawk Owls, which are in the same area every day =
for weeks.=20
*	The roads around Oak Lake hold amazing numbers of GGOW's, but they =
move freely around the area.
*	The temps went from -5=B0 @ 3:35 PM  to -15=B0 @ 5:15 PM. This did not =
seem cold for these birds, they remained very active and did not even =
appear to be "fluffed up". Al saw one two days ago when it was -24=B0 =
and it was so "fluffed up" that it appeared like a round ball of =
feathers.
*=09

1/16/05;  22 GGOW sightings: 3:35 PM till 5:15 PM, All in Northern Pine =
County, page 57 in MN DeLorme. These are the actual sign names, not on =
any maps.

1.	Hill street .1 Mi W of Military Rd (50) just east of Sturgeon Lake =
(3:35 PM)=20
2.	Pioneer Rd .1 Mi W of Partridge Rd (by Lake Eleven)
3.	Pioneer Rd .5 Mi E of Partridge Rd  (by Lake Twelve)
4.	Shadow Oak Rd (cr163) 1 Mi E of Willow Hay Rd (49)
5.	Shadow Oak Rd (cr163) .5 Mi W of Koecher (pronounced Kegger) Rd (48)
6.	Shadow Oak Rd (cr163) .25 Mi E of Koecher Rd (48)
7.	Shadow Oak Rd (cr163) .5 Mi S of Oak Shade Rd (174)
8.	Koecher Rd (48).25 Mi N of Berger Rd=20
9.	Intersection of Shady Oak Rd (56) and Oak Leaf Rd (47) (4:20 PM)
10.	Same as # 9, across the Rd on edge of field=20
11.	Willow Hay Rd (49) 1.5 Mi N of Shadow Oak Rd (cr163)
12.	Koecher Rd (48) .1 Mi N of Willow Hay Rd (49) intersection w/Shadow =
Oak Rd (cr163)
13.	Koecher Rd (48) .5 Mi N of Willow Hay Rd (49) intersection w/Shadow =
Oak Rd (cr163)
14.	County Line Road (10) 2.0 Mi W of town of Nickerson @Hwy 23
15.	Oak Leaf Rd (47) .5 Mi W of Duquette @Hwy 23
16.	Koecher Rd (48) .75 Mi S of Oak Leaf Rd (47)
17.	Kerrick Rd (46/cr154) 2.5 Mi E of Kerrick @Hwy23=20
18.	Kerrick Rd (46/cr154) 3.5 Mi E of Kerrick @Hwy23
19.	30 ft away from #18
20.	Kerrick Rd (46/cr154) 3.6 Mi E of Kerrick @Hwy23 perched on Deer =
Feeder
21.	Kerrick Rd (46/cr154) 3.0 Mi E of Kerrick (we refound #17 & #18 and =
saw this one)
22.	Hwy 46 3.0 Mi W of Kerrick (5:15 pm)

NHOW seen at corner of HWY 46 and Military Rd (50) - top of pole.


Mark Alt=20
Brooklyn Center, MN=20
mark.alt@bestbuy.com=20
"I recalled that I had read somewhere that in the Middle Ages Hell was =
envisioned as a place without birds." Jim Harrison