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MikeJ

MikeJ

Well-known member
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So I've lived the past way too many years but a scan 3-4 hours from Sax Zim Bog, in upper Minnesota. Realistically only heard about it maybe 5 years ago, and have been wanting to get there, having heard of owls and ermine and pine martins...

Well, today I finally made it, and I am hooked! The first animal I saw when I got there was a great gray owl. Didn't get any good pictures of that first one, but after spending the day there, found one that was actively hunting a small field. Saw this one snag 3 or 4 voles while I (and probably 20-30 other shutterbugs) snapped photos. This is probably my best one, just love the talons extended and the eyes so focused on its intended prey.

Hope it looks right, I'm sitting in my hotel room editing it on my laptop instead of my desktop back home.
 

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Member's gallery
MikeJ said:
So I've lived the past way too many years but a scan 3-4 hours from Sax Zim Bog, in upper Minnesota. Realistically only heard about it maybe 5 years ago, and have been wanting to get there, having heard of owls and ermine and pine martins...

Well, today I finally made it, and I am hooked! The first animal I saw when I got there was a great gray owl. Didn't get any good pictures of that first one, but after spending the day there, found one that was actively hunting a small field. Saw this one snag 3 or 4 voles while I (and probably 20-30 other shutterbugs) snapped photos. This is probably my best one, just love the talons extended and the eyes so focused on its intended prey.

Hope it looks right, I'm sitting in my hotel room editing it on my laptop instead of my desktop back home.
Click to expand...
Looks very nice! Good work!
 
Member's gallery
MikeJ said:
So I've lived the past way too many years but a scan 3-4 hours from Sax Zim Bog, in upper Minnesota. Realistically only heard about it maybe 5 years ago, and have been wanting to get there, having heard of owls and ermine and pine martins...

Well, today I finally made it, and I am hooked! The first animal I saw when I got there was a great gray owl. Didn't get any good pictures of that first one, but after spending the day there, found one that was actively hunting a small field. Saw this one snag 3 or 4 voles while I (and probably 20-30 other shutterbugs) snapped photos. This is probably my best one, just love the talons extended and the eyes so focused on its intended prey.

Hope it looks right, I'm sitting in my hotel room editing it on my laptop instead of my desktop back home.
Click to expand...
Very nice photo of the Gray owl! I live in NH and was thinking about flying out to MN for a couple of days to looks for the owl. Any suggestions?

George Carmichael
[email protected]
 
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@osmosis - thank you, George!

To be honest, this was my first trip to Sax-Zim Bog, and I got extremely lucky! I saw three different GGO and one Northern Hawk Owl in my day and a half up there. Hopefully others can chime in with more advice. One thing I'd suggest, stop at the visitor center and pick up a map. It shows the entire bog along with color-coordinated markings of what time of the year and what species you're likely to spot. They also have a whiteboard with where the most recent sightings have been, not just of GGO but also pine martins, ermines and various songbirds. I found myself driving a lot, but when you see tons of cars pulled over on the side of the road with equal numbers of long lenses and tripods, good chance someone spotted an owl. I found most of the people up there to be very friendly and helpful in spotting the owls. I talked to one gentleman that drove from Chicago - 7 hours! It was only my first trip, but I am hooked. Being only 3 hours from my home, I'll definitely be going back!
 
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