Sunday, January 18, 2015

Bad Ass Bird

Northern Hawk Owl gets my vote for baddest bird in the land. We have seen 3 of these little monsters on our trip to Minnesota. Check it out.  Look at the way it perches.

Northern Hawk Owl
Look at that "V" brow that it has. And the intense stare. 
Northern Hawk Owl

Look at the way it can disappear into the surroundings. Look at the tiny stature and yet it is still menacing. 

Northern Hawk Owl
Look at the way it ignores other birds like this Common Redpoll. And the way it has no fear of perching at the top of trees. 

Northern Hawk Owl/Common Redpoll
Bad Ass Owl!  Another really bad ass bird that we saw on the trip is this Northern Goshawk. This is an adult male. It is a giant accipiter - about the size of a Red-tailed Hawk. This dude will hunt and eat other hawks. That is bad ass. Check out the big body and relatively short (but powerful) wings on this bird. It is made to seek and destroy prey in the woods. Check out that evil red eye. Yikes! I was in the van, shooting this photo through the dirty window and was still a little scared of this bird. 

Northern Goshawk
From bad ass to cuddly. This Gray Jay was one of many that we saw on our trip. These birds always look happy with a permanent smile and light fluffy attitude. There are feeders set up in the Sac-Zim bog to attract some of the specialty birds. The Gray Jays take full advantage of the peanut butter. 

Gulp!
 Here he is after having his fill.

Gray Jay
The trip will not be complete unless we get to see our target bird - the Great Gray Owl. . . 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well, at least the Gray Jay seems to be a pleasant sort. Just watched Downton Abbey, don't you know. Enjoy the rest of your trip, Old Pip! Ta ta for now! HH