Just got back after spending three months in warm Florida. Best bird: a Fork-tailed Flycatcher. My wife's comment when I got back in the car after having her pull off onto the shoulder: "Don't get the idea that we are going to stop for every bird you see!" It was a good day.
I got back just in time to participate in the annual Sandhill Crane count on April 8th.. Most of the counters in our area (Dakota and Goodhue counties) found either no cranes or six to eight cranes. I found no cranes, although there are usually cranes nesting in the area. I always count in what I call the 190th Street natural area in Empire Township north of Farmington. The road is closed seasonally, and they don't open it this early in the year. So, I called the township to see if I could get access to the road, rather than riding a bike in. I didn't get through so I left a message explaining that I want to gain access to the road to count the cranes. I called back a couple of hours later to make sure they had gotten the message, as it was only a couple of days before the count. The lady I spoke to had overheard the message that someone else had played. "I understand that you want to access the road, but it is closed and we follow the state guidelines on road closures." "What state guidelines? There are no state guidelines that apply to this road closure" "Yes, there are state guidelines on spring road closures relating to weight limits. We can't have you driving your crane down the road this early in the spring." I explained I was counting cranes (birds) not driving a crane. They called me back and gave me access to the road. It was a great time birding, but no cranes and no exciting birds. The best birds were the Brewer's Blackbirds. Steve Weston On Quigley Lake in Eagan, MN swest...@comcast.net ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
