Like a lot of people, I love owls, but finding and photographing them can be quite challenging! Seeing a Grey Grey Owl in nature is something I’ve wanted to do for more than 20 years, but there is just no chance of that happening where I live in NE Ohio. I’ve known for a while that my best chance of seeing one of these mysterious and elusive owls was in northern Minnesota…and more specifically, the Sax-Zim Bog area. This is an area about an hour northwest of Duluth and about 14.5 hours drive from me. In January 2025 I finally made the trip! I could have saved some time and flown, but I prefer to drive because it just seems more adventurous and you never know what you could find along the way. The logistics seem easier and less chances of things going wrong, like canceled flights and messed up rental cars.

This was a particularly good year to look for owls because it is an irruption year for boreal species, like the Great Grey and the little Boreal Owl. This means that for various reasons, like food and climate, many more of these owls have migrated to the southern range of the boreal forest for the winter. I had hoped to see and photograph a Great Grey Owl when I started to plan this trip in early December, but it was luck that this turned out to be such a rare time to also see the cute boreal owls!

Of course, there were also lots of other interesting birds and wildlife in the bog and I only wish I could have had more time to see them. Some other wildlife I saw were snowshoe hares, mink, red fox, red squirrels, redpolls, ruffed grouse, Canada jays, northern shrike, purple finch, goldfinch, and a barred owl. If you would like to visit Sax-Zim, check out the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog’s website for a ton of valuable information.

All of the wildlife was photographed with an Olympus OM-1 + 300mm F4 Pro with a 1.4x teleconverter attached some of the time.

I used my last Holiday break day off to go Snowy Owl hunting (with a camera of course). A few years ago I captured my best Snowy pictures at Presque Isle State Park in Pennsylvania, so I decided to try my luck out there again. It’s kind of a big commitment and gamble to head out to this area. It’s at least a two hour drive to get there, with a minimum 4 mile hike. On top of that, Erie has been hammered with snow with about 1-2 feet, and no guarantee that I will even be able to drive out to the peninsula.

As I got closer to Erie, the roads were getting dicey and the effects of the big Christmas snowstorm were still very evident. Luckily, the roads were plowed and I was able to drive all the way down the peninsula. So far, so good:) Last time I came looking for owls, in 2014, I stopped at many of the beaches scanning for owls before I finally gave up on the easy access stuff and found success at Gull Point. This time, I went straight to my best chances and decided to skip the pull off areas and just do the hike to Gull Point. The parking lot for the trail was not cleared so I had to park a bit further out on the road. After driving in the warm car for just over two hours, the bitter cold and wind really hits you in the face! That’s fine, I was dressed for it and determined to find some arctic visitors.

Even though it’s cold and conditions are tough for hiking and photography, I expected to see at least a few cars of other birders and photographers out for the day. Instead, I saw nobody else, but did follow in the fresh footprints that mysteriously just ended about half way back?? The hike back seemed longer then I remember, but then finally...I broke through the trees to the wind sweeped landscape that is Gull Point. I almost immediately spotted a snowy and knew the whole trip would be worth it! He (I think it was he) was hunkered down behind some grass. I kept my distance while taking several photos as I moved past him further down the beach. The raptor was obviously aware of me, but didn’t seem bothered. I think it helps to not stop in one place for too long. After just a few minutes I saw two more white owls in the sky. It was amazing seeing these two soaring together. I fired off a few shots, but had no idea if anything would be in focus. The wind was really whipping up at this point and it had to be somewhere around -15 with the windchill. I didn’t have much more in me before I need to start heading back and find the shelter of the woods. The two flying birds soon landed on the beach not far from me and I was able to take cover behind some old tree roots and get some fairly close photos of the owls. After just a few minutes it was time to get out of here and on the way back I grabbed, probably my favorite photo of the day of the original snowy owl who had moved a little closer to the trail by this time.

Got a few landscapes on the hike back and had an easy drive home. Seven hours from door to door and it was all worth it. These majestic visitors from the far north are something special to see in person and I’ll make that trip every year that I can.