After birding in the western edge of the state, Jim Ryan and I arrived at the Sleepy Eye Lagoon at dusk, finding two cars and a birder (Robin from Delano) with her scope focussed on a gull on the grassy median between the two lagoons. As dusk thickened we approached the gull to within about 50 yards. At this time the four occupants from the other car, gathered their guns and pop (it being past the time for legimate hunting) and walked towards us. They were enjoying their fellowship and were totally unaware of the object of our attention. The gull flew when approached to about ten feet, showing off its wing pattern and settled upon the lagoon. We left it at 8:00pm.
Before we left we talked to the young hunters, who were there for the special goose hunting season that openned today. We told them that we hoped that our presence did not intrude on their hunt. They had been on the far shore of the lagoon. They assured us that it had not. At which point a flock of about twenty Canada honkers flew over their abandoned station and settled on the lagoon, too late for the hunt. The geese were either not affected by our presence or acutely aware of rules of hunting. We explained about the rarity of the gull and its attraction to birders across the state. They had noticed the visitors earlier in the day, but had not seen anyone except the three of us since they arrived at a couple of hours earlier. They are returning on Sunday for the hunt. We told them that the birders would be there also and we would not be able to stop them. They hoped that they would not interfere with their hunt. They appeared to be quite tolerant, hopefully tomorrow's birders can respect their space. Besides the gull we found at least three species of swallows, an Eared Grebe, and a Nighthawk. There was more of interest, but hour was late and we were focused on the gull. The lagoons are a mile or two south of the edge of Sleepy Eye and are easy to see from Highway 4. Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN sweston2 at comcast.net