The influx of northern owls continues in northeastern Minnesota, with GREAT GRAY OWLS and NORTHERN HAWK OWLS being easy to find in the vicinity of Duluth and along the north shore of Lake Superior. One of the easiest places to view these owls is the Sax-Zim Bog area along St. Louis County Roads 52 and 7. A Great Gray Owl has been seen north of Chaska, in Carver County since December 28th. The owl is at the marsh found at the junction of Bavaria Road and Engler Boulevard, just west of State Highway 41. And on January 2nd, a Great Gray Owl was in the Minnesota Valley Refuge north of Blue Lake, in Scott County. From the Minnesota Valley Refuge parking lot on State Highway 101 east of the Blue Lake sewage treatment plant, walk the trail north to the Minnesota River, then follow it upstream for about 800 feet to a small clearing. The owl was in a snag here, ten feet from the path.
With the colder temperatures and deeper snows, BOREAL OWLS are beginning to show up in the area as well. On January 6th, a roosting Boreal Owl was in Ben Yokel’s yard in rural Melrude, in St. Louis County. Another Boreal Owl was along Stoney Point Road in eastern St. Louis County on the same day, one-tenth of a mile northeast of the intersection with Alseth Road. On January 5th, Mike Hendrickson found a Boreal Owl in west Duluth, in St. Louis County. To view this owl, begin at the junction of Grand and Clyde Avenues, go left on Clyde Avenue, and drive to 88th Avenue. Turn left for 1 1/2 blocks to the ravine on the left side of the road. The owl was roosting in a alder bush about five feet off the ground.

On January 4th, an adult GLAUCOUS GULL was on the ice on the Minnesota River immediately adjacent to the Black Dog Power Plant in Dakota County.

Two SPRUCE GROUSE were seen three miles south of Greenwood Lake along Lake County Road 2 on December 31st.

On January 5th, a VARIED THRUSH was seen at Howell and Prior Avenues in St. Paul, in Ramsey County. And the Varied Thrush reported in Falcon Heights, in Ramsey County was still present on the 6th, as was the Varied Thrush reported in Bloomington at the corner of West 110 Street and Sheridan. On the afternoon of January 5th, a male Varied Thrush was in Mark Junghans yard along Marmoset Street in Ramsey, in Anoka County. On the 3rd, there was a Varied Thrush at a home along Devils Track Lake, about twelve miles northwest of Grand Marais in Cook County, -no further information is available.

A CAROLINA WREN was just up the hill from the Old Cedar Avenue bridge parking area in the city of Bloomington on January 1st. The bird was in the grape vines directly across the driveway to the garden center.

And last, a HOARY REDPOLL was at the Watson home in Grand Marais, in Cook County, on December 30th. And two Hoary Redpolls were at the feeding station in the town of Isabella, in Lake County, on the 31st.