and a Hawk Owl in a Spruce tree

The other reason I wanted to go up to the UP was for a shot at Hawk Owl pics.  I've only seen one, a bird at Soo Junction on the Chippewa/Luce Co line several years ago (probably the last time I went to the UP).  There's apparently about 3 birds at various locations, the 11 Mile bird was there on our second check yesterday morning.

I was surprised by how big it was, though its feathers were fluffed up pretty heavily.  It would occasionally look down at the chatter of the shutters.

Otherwise it mostly just sat there, preened once and turned around once.

We considered waiting for it to do something but the cold won out.

We tried to find our way back into a different section of the burn but were turned back by the 6-10 inches of snow that had fallen since we'd left the day before.  A small group of Pine Grosbeaks was a consolation before we turned back south.

It felt odd seeing real winter; it was in the 40's by the time we returned to "Barely-in" Berrien last night.