Over 10,000 Great Gray Owls were reported in Minnesota that winter. Thousands of people, birders and non-birders alike, from Minnesota, many other states, and some foreign countries went north to see these owls. Aitkin County was a particularly good place to find them.
One recalls seeing a large hay field there that held perhaps three dozen Great Grays one afternoon. The town road bordering one side of the field was lined with parked cars, people sitting on car hoods and in lawn chairs to watch the birds.
So many people it looked like the audience for a major local sporting event.
Air Date Thu, 20 Jan 2011