People who have traveled between Two Harbors and Duluth during the month of January may have seen a group of folks who were sporting serious photographic equipment, positioned along Highway 61 between Homestead Road and the turnoff to McQuade Harbor. What has been so fascinating to these folks is the presence of a Great Gray Owl.
While it is not unheard of to occasionally see the Great Gray Owl in our part of the State, they more typically are found inhabiting a range that extends from Alaska and Northern California, to the interior of Canada. My Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds tells me that they “rarely wander into the Great Lakes region.” Thankfully, one (or maybe more) have graced our area, so if you saw a Great Gray Owl lately, consider yourself lucky.
The Great Gray Owl typically lives in boreal coniferous forests. Like most far northern owls, they hunt during the daytime. The Great Gray’s voice is described as “very deep, booming whoo’s, repeated many times and descending in scale.” Owls more commonly seen in our part of the State include the Boreal Owl and the Great Horned Owl.
The photograph included here was taken by Paul Kammen. He said that the Great Gray Owl had come this far south to hunt. Apparently, the vole population is low in the areas north of the border where the Great Gray Owl would normally be. Seeing it in the wild adds yet another exciting feature to life on the North Shore.
Besides his love for photographing landscapes and birds, Father Paul is a Catholic Priest, serving the Saint Joseph Parish in Rosemount Minnesota. Readers are encouraged to keep an eye and an ear out for the Great Gray Owl and check out Father Paul’s wildlife and landscape photography at fatherpaul.smugmug.com.
