I vacationed in Eagle Bend, MN over the 4th of July week, and see on the MOU listserv that Red-headed Woodpecker sightings are receiving a lot of interest. While in Eagle Bend, I golfed at the local course, The Double Eagle, and while on the course I observed a Red-headed Woodpecker on two separate occasions. They were in different areas of the course, but not far enough apart to determine whether they were two separate birds, or the same bird seen twice. Thought I'd mention the sighting.
I also want to publicly express my appreciation to Milt Blomberg, from St. Augusta, MN. He responded to my email inquiring about birders near the Eagle Bend area, and whether there may be an opportunity to get out with a local MN birder while I was visiting. As a result, he graciously spent a 10+ hour day guiding me around some of the excellent birding locations in the St. Cloud area and surrounding environs. He was an extraordinary birding guide, and a great guy to spend the day with. We ID'd 88 species that day, with a total of 15 of the 24 life birds I added to my list while in MN thanks to the day I spent with Milt. This is a list of the lifers I added to my list while vacationing in MN. The birds with an asterisk (*) are the new lifers I added while birding with Milt: Western Grebe Red-throated Grebe Nashville Warbler Ring-necked Pheasant Merlin White Pelican Yellow-headed Blackbird Black-capped Chickadee Black Tern Trumpeter Swan* Savannah Sparrow* Vesper Sparrow* Clay-colored Sparrow* Marsh Wren* Sedge Wren* Baltimore Oriole* Horned Lark* Bobolink* Ruffed Grouse* Black-billed Cuckoo* Broad-winged Hawk* (Both on the wing and a nest with an adult and a fledgling) Least Flycatcher* Bank Swallow* Wilson's Phalarope* In total, I ID'd over a 100 species while in MN, with 24 new life list birds. A heartfelt thanks to all the MN birders who contributed to my excellent adventure, including Thomas Maiello, a fellow birder and friend from Maple Grove who pointed me in the direction of the MOU listserv, Mark Palas who responded to my MOU listserv email with a suggestion to bird the Lake Osakis area (I found 5 of my new life listers in that area), and most of all Milt Blomberg. Howard Coston Winston-Salem, NC ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
