A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Surnia ulula
The females of this species tend to be slightly larger than the male with a length of 37.2–44.7 cm. They have a brown mottled back and lighter underneath with banding. The tail is long with brown banding. The face is white with a black border around the facial disk.
Boreal forests around the northern hemisphere.
In the winter of 2004-2005, a large irruption of northern owls occurred in northern Minnesota and other parts of the US Midwest. I photographed this owl as it hunted along a roadway.
Spotted on Feb 10, 2005
Submitted on Mar 13, 2012
9 Comments
I adore your photos.
Twin Cities...I'm not going to have time to do much though...maybe one short drive in the near-by country...
Thanks everyone for the comments.
Christy, It's been so warm here for the last few days that I suspect that all the hawk-owls have headed back north to Canada. I don't think there were many here to begin with this winter. Snowy owls were pretty common this year, but I didn't see one of those either. Migration is well underway now. What part of Minnesota are you visiting?
Owls are amazing creatures! Great picture!
Fantastic. I knew this was one of your photos right away! Jealous you get to see such cool birds in Minnesota.
Very nice!
Beautiful!! I'm headed to MN in a week! I hope I find such a spotting!
Very nice! You don't see them with a clear sunny sky often.
wonderful spotting!