Learn More About Owls

See Photos of Owls

	The Minnesota Owl Invasion by Alex Cruz
	Alex Cruz was born a "Newyorican" in Brooklyn, New York in 1968, but raised in the West. His educational background is in biology and science illustration. He currently lives in Crystal, Minnesota and works as a freelance graphic designer. "Drawing birds allows me to see them for the first time all over again." "Unprecedented numbers of Great Gray, Northern Hawk, and Boreal Owls have been reported across northeastern Minnesota…", stated an e-mail from the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union. This would be my first winter in Minnesota after leaving the climatic safety of California, and it was looking like an invasion year—a strigid invasion. I had only seen one Great Gray Owl, by accident, in British Columbia. I never thought I would actually see a Boreal Owl, maybe I’d hear one someday. And Northern Hawk Owls, they are just way too sexy, and I am not worthy. The owls did come, in record numbers, and as I write they are still here. The owls are in a flight for survival, a search for food. I sat down and I sketched them. Following are some excerpts from my sketchbook of what I am sure I’ll remember as the time of the owl. 6 November 2004, 1450-1520, sunny in the low 50s F, NE of W. McKay Rd and CR7, Sax-Zim bog, MN A Northern Hawk Owl is watching the bog for movement. The owl’s feathered feet cling to the top of a spruce which seems too spindly to support the weight of the owl. At this latitude and time of the year, the angle of the sun is so low that it seems to be morning or late afternoon all day. In this light, the bird is completely grayscale, except, of course, for its piercing yellow eyes. I forgot my sketching materials, but I found a ball-point pen in the car. I am lucky enough to see the owl catch a vole, which it ate the head of. The owl just took off, headed east. 15 December 2004, 1320-1450, sunny in the 40s F, French Regional Park, Hennepin County, MN On a day that would have only been memorable for the mild temperatures, I found a small miracle. Walking through a grove of evergreens near the park entrance, I was visualizing seeing an owl. In my mind, I was actually picturing a saw-whet owl, and seconds later, perched alertly in a pine, was a Northern Saw-whet Owl! I ran back home to get Dan (Karvonen). We return, the owl is still here. We sit down in the warm sun, on a mat of pine needles. The owl looks at us a couple of times, but mostly it sleeps. Once it yawned, exposing a round, pink mouth with a little pointy tongue. As I sketch, I wonder where it’s going. Just passing through? 9 January 2005, 1430-1500, snowing, in the teens, Twins Harbors, MN Otto Gockman, a young birder, asked us if we’d like to see a Boreal Owl. We nodded in disbelief. Otto silently pointed at a form in a eastern red-cedar, about 5m above the ground. A lifer for everyone there. A Boreal Owl. It yawned, slept, and preened. The views through the scope were amazing. I sat down, using my backpack as a barrier against the snow, and I tried to capture the scalloped look of the rusty barring on its breast and belly. I brushed the snow off my sketchbook, while snow collected on the owl. My pencil movements caused the snow to melt, freezing into ice at the pencil tip. Suddenly the owl jerked awake, and like a mechanical toy, its eyes followed a red squirrel. Quickly, I sketched the awake owl, because now I was getting cold. My fingers numb, I produced two contour drawings that would be my favorites of the trip. 10 January 2005, sunny in the single digits, Sax-Zim bog, Saint Louis Co., MN Dan and I spent our last day up north at the Sax-Zim bog. With the sun and the snow, the whole scene sparkled. We watched Great Gray Owls twist their plate-shaped heads, while their bodies melted with whatever they perched on. Northern Hawk Owls perched atop the most conspicuous perches. It was hard to soak it all in, and all the owls were almost overwhelming. We had 49 sightings of Great Gray and 9 of Northern Hawk Owls. It was magical. Magical for us--but traumatic for the owls? Why are they here in such numbers? Will they make it? As we headed home, with our owl-attuned eyes, we spotted two Great Horned Owls perched above the highway.