Seeing Red

I wonder why so many birds have red in them. Most of the small birds that we have seen on the trip have some red in them like this Common Redpoll. ("poll" is an Olde English word for "cap")

Common Redpoll

Common Redpoll

Another red, well purple bird that is common up north is Purple Finch. We visited a few other bird feeders in the area which attracted these birds too.

Purple Finch

Even the squirrels are red. How cute is this little guy.

Red Squirrel

OK, there were yellow birds too like this Pine Siskin which has a hint of yellow. This one was picking seeds from the snow.

Pine Siskin

Of course, the Siskin doesn't hold a candle to the yellow of the Evening Grosbeak. This guy hung out on the bird bath to get a drink. Talk about eyebrows.

Evening Grosbeak

Sunrise was colorful too.

Sunrise over the north woods

Getting anxious now about seeing a Great Gray Owl. So far, we have struck out 3 times. . .

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. . .