Hawk Owl Update

This guy was very active yesterday afternoon along Stolte Road, in the Corduroy Dike area. He was hunting along the dike and at one time landed about 20 feet in front of the truck in an unsuccessful attempt to capture a mouse. The photos only show a dark brown mass in the grass so not worth printing.

Two wolves were hunting in the are eariler in the day and after the snowfall. A couple of volunteers from the tracking class were following them along Stolte. Their car got off the main track briefly causing a little scare. Road conditions are treacherous and getting worse with each new snowfall. I'll probably keep driving it until disaster strikes and I need to get a tow. It is just too much fun to watch the owl and its behavior.

By the way, these are uncropped images taken with a 400 mm lens hanging out the truck window.

Dale

The St. Croix: A Northwoods Journey

The St. Croix: A Northwoods Journey from Greg Seitz on Vimeo.

January Wildflowers

The sunrise temperature has been in the -20 degree range all week. It has been hard getting out early for nice light but I finally made it today. Later in the morning the shadows were too harsh and the color was gone. This was taken near the historic overlook after walking a short distance in snowshoes to get a good background.

On another note, the hawk owl was busy hunting along the Corduroy Dike at sunset yesterday. Stolte Rd. is not plowed and is a single track of ice pack. I don't know what would happen if you had the bad luck to meet another vehicle.

The trail cams were empty when checked. One was ice covered. With the snow the wolves are staying on the roads and seem to be very active on East Refuge Rd and the Main Dike Rd by the pump house. Fox tracks are everywhere with an occasional pheasant wing signifying a successful hunt. This winter will be tough on pheasants, hopefully to the benefit of the few remaining sharptail grouse.

Dale

The Year In Review - 2009

2009 was a great year with many great sightings. I am fortunate to be able to spend so much time at Crex and Fish Lake and thankful for the many new friends I have met throughout the year.

Kathy J.

( click on all pictures to enlarge)

January: My trips to Crex become less frequent but there is a certain peacefulness in the silence.

February: One thing nice about fresh snow is that you can see signs of what traveled through the area . These wolf tracks were on Phantom Lake Road. Occasionally a set of tracks would wander off the road, go into the grasses. then return to join the pack.

March: The Trumpeters have returned. I spotted H56 swimming in the open water off of East Refuge Road. She and her uncollared mate were a highly visible pair from Main Dike Road in the refuge extension where they have nested for years. She was seen nesting but then disappeared. If anyone sees her, please send me a note.

March: Red-headed Blackbird males return a couple of weeks before the females to stake out their territories.

April: Canada Geese are nesting. Their nests are lined with a layer of down.

May: The deer are losing their winter coats and you can see patches of golden brown starting to appear.

May: (My favorite time of the year) If you're lucky you can catch sight of a Sandhill colt out in the open. This one was spotted on Abel Road.

May: The first Trumpeter cygnets start appearing. These were crossing the road in Fish Lake.

May: Green is beautiful after a long white winter.

May: This Sandhill was nesting across the road from Dike 1. Apparently it got too close to a pair of Red-headed Blackbirds as they started attacking it. If you look closely you'll see a patch of red from the male blackbird's wing as it attacks the Sandhill's butt.

June: Yellow-headed Blackbirds were quite visible this year at Phantom Lake.

June: The Loon pair on Phantom Lake had 2 chicks.

July: I got my first good look at a Badger as my granddaughter and I were sitting on a bench at the rest area eating our lunch.

July: Water levels were extremely low to non-existent during July. I watched to see if this Red Fox was going to go after the Mallard family but it just got a drink and trotted away. The water in this photo was completely gone the next week.

July: The drought yielded a bonanza for the Black Terns. This one was feeding on the small fish stranded in a mud puddle in the refuge extension.

July: This Karner Blue looked as if it was purposefully marked.

August: Trumpeter Swans and their cygnets are feasting on the wild rice in Upper North Fork Flowage

August: Egrets are frequently seen

September: John Menge leads a mushroom walk at Paint Mine by the St. Croix River

October: Chris Cold brings his Great Horned Owl to the Crex Fall Festival

November: Sandhills coming in to roost at sunset

December: As Dale B. says "The silent season has begun"

Hawk Owl Hunting

Northern Hawk Owl Hunting from Dale Bohlke on Vimeo.

This guy was busy hunting all morning. Shortly after sunrise he appeared to be chasing blue jays, at least they were raising quite a racket. He moved through the trees and only stopped occasionally on low branches to preen before flitting around. His flight was stuttered with hover maneuvers, short bursts, and low glides. Later in the morning the owl was out in the clear cut going to tree tops to hunt. It was backlit and did not show up on the frame so I moved around to get better lighting. He looked directly at me when a mouse squeaker was used but clearly the real thing interested him more. The take off is directly at me, flying within 10 feet of the tripod and camcorder.
Dale

Yesterday morning was beautiful and perfect except for the cloud at sunrise. The sudden drop in temperature created a great morning hoar frost and very little wind until mid morning. The hawk owl on Stolte Rd was actively hunting and I was lucky to capture a successful hunt on film. It appeared to be chasing blue jays early in the morning and caught vole later in the morning. The clip will be shared when I get it out of the camcorder. This may be the last chance to see this rare Crex bird unless your snowshoe in 2 miles. Stolte Road is not plowed in the winter.
Dale

The Wolf Pack is Back

After a long dry spell the black pack was once again caught in the camera trap. It is down to 4 (black alpha, black and gimpy, gray alpha female, and a shy gray) with the death of one of the young black adults. They have passed in front of the camera three times since the beginning of December, on three separate evenings. This pack had pups but none were seen on the trail cam. Two cameras are currently set up on the refuge and if the pups survived they should eventually be seen on one of the cameras.