I recently found myself in the frigid state of Minnesota investigating a new business venture totally unrelated
to my wildlife photography endeavors.
Of course being a slave to my photography passion, I left for the hinterland with a warm pair of long-johns,
a toothbrush, and a Canon 400mm lens with a 2x converter. This as it turns out, would be enough.
Before being whisked off to the airport by means of livery, the mailman approached up the driveway happy to
hand me the daily mail. Joyfully nestled amongst an angry backdrop of bills and solicitations was the
February issue of National Geographic. On the cover of this issue was plastered the majestic Great Grey
Owl (Strix Nebulosa).
I thought aloud, "this is an omen" for prior to my departure to the Northwoods I made contact with the biologists
and naturalists from the region to see what photographic opportunities might befall me if I were to get a break
from my primary objective. The overwhelming response was that in the coniferous/birch hardwood forests
of northern Minnesota the spirit of the northland has come down from its artic lair to pay them a visit – en
masse!!
The immigration of Great Grey owls along with Boreal, Saw-whet, Snowy and Hawk owls is directly correlated with
the downward spike of microtine vole populations in the owls’ normal range. In the course of geological
time this natural event has been occurring at intervals spaced out in five to eight year cycles. In ornithological
terms this explosion is termed an "irruption" year – I just called it serendipity.
In a normal year you might get a few owl sightings in the northern stretches of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Montana.
When the great grays become prevalent in the southern sections of these states scientists know that the prey
base in their normal range has taken a nosedive.
I thought that I would be hard-pressed to find a great grey owl let-alone be close enough to photograph one.
I got up that day at 6 AM to scout a route I was told to travel where these raptors were recently spotted.
Traveling along route 4 in Carlton County Minnesota at approximately 9 AM, I saw ahead of me a large bird swoop
from sight – in an instant my brain said "red-tailed hawk". When I reached the point where it disappeared
I started to scan a long line of pine and oak trees that created a forested hedgerow along a sizeable farm-field.
The moment I reached the point of the road where the bird left my sight I pulled off to the shoulder and scanned
the tree-line. The bird had landed a couple hundred feet up the hardwoods and stood out like the mole
on Cindy Crawford’s face. Oh, did I tell you it was snowing hard and steady that day. Of course
this just added to the majesty of the moment. Here was a truly wild animal that emphasizes wilderness
in the same vain as an Eyland grazing on tall native grass in Sub-Saharan Africa or a Grizzly Bear foraging
for ripe blueberries in Jasper National Park – and here I was, a day out of New Jersey, feeling the love.
Talk about stepping in the proverbial scat-pile. I would have felt lucky just seeing one of these majestic
creatures let alone the next 32 I bore witness to that day.
I approximated a great grey sighting every five miles traveling south from Duluth along interstate 23.
I was in photography heaven. "There’s one a fence post, there’s one on a telephone pole, man, check it
out – there’s one on an old abandoned roof". I was talking to myself the whole way back to highway 35.
A husband and wife team of birder’s had told me at the end of the day they had marked the locations of 82 great
gray’s, 4 boreal’s and 2 hawk owls. Aretha Franklin needs to change the words – it’s raining owls – Alleluia!
I likened it to red-tail hawk sightings along any highway in New Jersey, instead this time it was the Spirit
of the Northwood’s hunting the open fields.
At Jay Crooke State Park just outside of Duluth, I stopped to check it out. Again I was up to my tripod in the
proverbial.
At the park headquarters I stopped in to get a heads up for potential wildlife sightings in the
area and all they had to do is direct me to their birdfeeders where Redpoll’s, Siskins and Hairy Woodpeckers
were having a party. All of these three species I have never been close enough to photograph in full frame.
I had to stand in three feet of fresh snow for two hours but I was so enthralled in picture taking I forgot
to tell my big toes to circulate. When I finally got back in the car at nightfall I was thoroughly frozen to
the condenser but would not have changed a moment of that day for all the white castles in New Jersey. It wasn’t
quite over yet, along a winding deep forest back road heading out of the park I scanned the trees like any good
naturalist does and was lucky enough to find a porcupine ripping the bark off some high branches. This was a
fortuitous close to a memorable day.
Returning to the twin cities traveling south on 35 I pondered the fate of Minnesota’s North Country. Like all
places local and remote the talk wasn’t good.
Minnesota is not insulated by its’ sheer acreage to environmental
impacts. I got an earful from the biologists and naturalists I chatted with - ATV and snowmobile abuse to the
land is rampant, over hunting, timber harvesting, abuse on Indian reservations, and urban sprawl were all reeking
havoc. I asked myself the sad question - will my two boys when they reach 45 years of age be able to come back
to this place and have the same day I just described to you – I sure hope so - but I’m not optimistic.
|
