As of yesterday, the area holding the kittiwake and a few gulls at Big Stone NWR was completely frozen over with no indication the bird was still around. With the temperatures hovering just above zero Tuesday morning, this was the outcome I expected, but not hoped for. The only open water were small patches (mostly slush) being kept that way by the thousands of geese and mallards still present. I waited for the geese to leave for their pm feeding so I could see the water better and my patience was rewarded by... a common merganser and 2 coots...big yip. This is the 3rd time I have chased and missed a kittiwake by one day or less and I would probably claim it as my nemesis bird. Of course the Eurasian tree sparrow in my own county WAS seen yesterday by Ron Erpelding (but not seen by another birder). Don't you just love this hobby? Wishing all people reading this post a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.
Randy Frederickson Willmar ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
