There are at least 2 Long-eared Owls wintering in Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge right now. I spotted them this morning, from what's called the Granite Outcrop hiking trail.
Drive in on the auto tour, around the big rock with the face, and park by the outhouses. Then hike east, following the Minnesota River. They are in the woods on the south bank of the river, below the outcrops. That puts them in Lac qui Parle County, if you're into listing. This is the 5th winter in a row when I've either seen them in these bottomlands or spoken with someone else who has. I'm going to try for a picture. Unfortunately, I was shooting lichens this morning and only had a wide angle lens. Usually, the Auto Tour is inaccessible this time of year. It isn't plowed for the winter, so our first significant snowfall usually means the end of access till Spring. So this is a great opportunity to get in there and see them, if anyone is in need of a LQP Long-ear. The long-term forecast doesn't show much chance of accumulating snow any time in the next 10 days. Otherwise, there is nothing too unusual from the area to report. We did have a fun CBC on December 16, logging nearly 10,000 Canada Geese and around 3,000 Mallards wintering in the Ortonville/Odessa area right now. They are keeping the ice off of certain lakes with their body heat. Our count is probably a conservative one, as our CBC day was very, very foggy and lots of birds were grounded. Until something more interesting flies through, Jason Frank Ortonville ---- General information and guidelines for posting: https://moumn.org/listservice.html Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social distancing, and continue to bird responsibly.
