I’m not sure if Snowy Owls around the U.P. are rare or if they’re just scarce so we don’t see them so often. Luckily, Brenda Leigh spotted one in the Brimley area last week and had her camera at the ready for a shot of it. She said this was actually the second one she’s seen, but didn’t have her camera with her the first time. What a neat looking bird, sitting there on that insulator, surveying the land around it.

The next four shots are from Bob Gilreath. He says this is a big, resident male, Ruffed Grouse that visits their feeding area in the back yard. It looks to be pretty well fed.

Many songbirds stick around here UP North in the winter. CBS Morning shares a nature video of songbirds in the snow. These feathered friends are sure fun to watch at our backyard feeders.

Nice pics & video. If you have ever been for a walk
in the woods and just enjoying the peace and quiet,
kicking up a Partridge in front of you will make
your heart skip a beat! Their loud flapping and take
off can be really quite startling!!

Great pix! The first one is a whooot.


It’s amazing how the others blend in to their surroundings.

Birds are so wonderful to watch. One time,
cruising out on Post Road, I came around a corner
to a field filled with Sand Hill Cranes. Further
up the road, I saw a Hawk dive down on a mouse.
I've seen an Eagle take a dip into Superior and
come up with a good sized fish! I watched a
Northern Flicker monitor his prey, until he caught
it. One time on Brockway, during migration season,
I was hanging out near one of the fence things,
and a flock of Red Tailed Hawks flew up the side
of the mountain and up the back of my head. I
watched an Eagle kettling on Brockway. One year,
when I didn't know the Hummingbirds were back, one
came up behind my head and flapped his wings on my
scalp. I put the feeder out next! lol On and on
and on....And we aren't allowed to feed them here.
They might leave a turd! Even tho the whole world
is their outhouse!

Gorgeous pictures. Snowy owls are so pretty.

The video is just what the doctor ordered.
There have hardly been any birds in our yard
this winter, and what has been here are just
chickadees and Goldfinches. They've been fun
to watch but this video was awesome.

Thanks for the reminder, Deb…I forgot to watch the video before.


And I agree…the video was awesome, I could watch that all day.

I'm trying to post on here more, when I get time to do so......

When we lived in Red Jacket, each winter we had a Snowy Owl hang around the house and back field. I'm sure it was because we fed birds and any other beast that wandered in to eat so the Owl was looking for a meal. Beautiful birds; sadly, we don't get em this far south.

Speaking of birds, this weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count run through The Cornell Lab, Audubon Society, and Birds Canada. Anyone can participate, all you have to do is count what species of birds you have and the number at your feeders, then report it to the Cornell Lab. We've been doing it for years now and is always interesting to see what visits the feeders here in the tropics.

https://www.birdcount.org/

Wrong time of year to be looking for pears or was that a pair of Partridges?

I usually get dozens of Cardinals in my Hawthorne tree. They love the tiny red Berries, but there have been almost none so far this year.

Hi
Donna, sorry to hear that you can't feed birds where
you are. It sounds like you've had wonderful
experiences in the past.

My hometown, Rudyard, was recently declared the "Snowy Owl Capital of Michigan." They have a nice gallery on the township website.