At the end of June 1900, Thomas Sadler Roberts traveled to northwestern Minnesota to meet colleague E.L. Brown and photograph birds in and around Warren in Marshall County. To prepare for the trip, in which they would traverse the old Pembina trail and navigate along the Moose River to observe near Thief Lake, Roberts and Brown spent most of June 28 and 29th outfitting – buying supplies and fitting them to the farm wagon that would carry them on their trip. According to his journal entry for June 29th, Roberts was also able to photograph a Long-eared Owl that was in Brown’s possession.

The following images capture the many poses of that Long-eared Owl.

“Whoooo are you?“


“I am not amused.“


“What’s that?“


“Whooo’s up there?“


“Don’t look at me.“


“Zoolander“

– From the Bell Museum glass plate negative collection.