Ciblek Mania

A few weeks ago, I found myself riding along one of the farm roads in northern Kidder County, North Dakota, with a busload of bird watchers, on a Big Day outing for the Potholes & Prairie Birding Festival. It was late afternoon, the sky was gray and overcast. As we topped a small rise in the road (this part of ND is full of gentle, rolling hills) we came upon this very cooperative short-eared owl. Immediately the cameras swung into position and we tried to inch closer with the front door open to get a good shot.


I was looking at the bird's belly and wondering if this bird had just been on the nest incubating eggs or brooding owlets (note the obvious cleft in the breast and belly feathers). If this hypothesis is correct, that would make this bird a female since they do most of the incubation and brooding. Males help by bringing food to the nest site for the female and, eventually, the owlets.


She soon grew aware of our giant people-mover inching ever closer. So she shook herself, took a quick poop...

And launched into flight.

We saw at least five short-eared owls (and 109 other bird species) that day, but the owl was my favorite photo subject of the expedition.

This Saturday, January 16, the Ohio Ornithological Society will hold our annual winter birding trip to The Wilds. In the good news/bad news department, the trip is already maxed out at 150 participants, with a waiting list of 30+. This is surprising to me given the weather we normally have for this outing: think Arctic Circle. No matter what the weather person predicts, it's always 20 degrees colder at The (wide-open) Wilds. If you're coming along, wear everything you've got and activate the hand warmers.

We're hoping to see some specialty birds there. Among the highlights in past years have been golden eagle, northern shrike, prairie falcon, snow bunting, and white-fronted goose. More likely (though not guaranteed) are northern harrier, horned lark, rough-legged hawk, and short-eared owl.

Even if we don't see many birds, we'll still be treated to some mammal watching and the omnipresent Canada geese.


Our group will split into smaller car pools to cover all the prime birding spots. Jim McCormac (shown above demonstrating the effectiveness of his deodorant) always attracts a big crowd with his mad birding skilz. Even when the birding is slow, we still have a good time. We're hoping it's cold enough to keep the mud frozen, but not SO cold that bodily extremities are frozen.

The Wilds is 20,000 acres of recovering strip mine: prime habitat for grassland birds year-round. Poor habitat for trees, as this photo indicates.

And at the end of the daylight hours, if we are lucky, we might catch a glimpse or two of a short-eared owl.