Sax-Zim day one
Sax-Zim in December is serious cold. I drove up from Duluth at 5:30 AM with three layers of gloves and a thermos that turned out to be not big enough. The first hour of light, driving the grid, produced nothing. Then, on Arkola Road just past the corner, a Great Gray Owl.
It was on a low spruce, facing into a field, ignoring us. I got out of the car very slowly. It swung its head once, looked through me, and went back to listening. I managed twelve minutes with it before it dropped off the perch into the snow on a vole and came up empty.
Afterwards, feeders. The volunteer feeders at Sax-Zim are a community project and they work. A Pine Grosbeak flock was the prettiest thing I saw all day — males a warm pink, females in their soft yellow. Redpolls everywhere (I think Common, didn’t try to split). Black-billed Magpies in the distance. Gray Jays (or Canada Jays if you prefer) working a suet feeder and basically posing.
Almost drove past a Northern Hawk Owl on a dead spruce a mile from the feeders. Thanks to my birder friend who was riding shotgun for catching it.
Longest day of driving I’ve done in a while. Hands finally warmed up around midnight in the hotel.
