Boreal Owl

Boreal Owl - Click for larger image.

I was thrilled to get photos of a Boreal Owl in northern Minnesota. They are one of the smaller owls in North America, at about 10 inches only about the same size as a Burrowing Owl and two inches larger than the Northern Saw-Whet Owl and similar in stature. The facial disk of the Boreal Owl is framed in black and it has a light colored beak, where the Northern Saw-Whet Owl has a black beak and white eyebrows. The habitat of the Boreal Owl is primarily Canada, Alaska and the Northern Rockies, so it gets a lot of attention when seen in the northern states in the Winter. I was fortunate to meet someone to show me where to find one. With a 600mm lens and 1.4 extender, effectively 840mm,  I was able to keep my distance from the bird and still get some fairly close up photos, but I did still need to crop the images in the computer to get the close-up view. Boreal Owls and Northern Saw-whet owls are both very approachable, and generally don't seem to be bothered by photographers if not getting too close and making noise or commotion. Some bird books identify them as being 'tame', but I think tolerant is a better description. They don't want to expend any extra energy to fly away, because they need that energy to hunt every night.
Finding one isn't easy. Below is a medium view of the under brush as seen from the road while driving by. There is a Boreal owl in the upper right quadrant of this photo. Can you find It? Neither could I when standing in front of it, until someone pointed out the owl to me. The images below were taken on different occasions. Click the images below to see larger.

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There is a Boreal Owl in the upper right quadrant.

Boreal Owl

Boreal Owl

A Short video (no audio):

More Owls...