[mou-net] tundra swans
At about 8;30 PM , I heard Tundra Swans flying over and was amazed when I looked in the direction of the calling, to actually see them in the pitched dark of the night. The white of the body against a very black sky was stunning ! There is always another surprise around the corner. jim optto Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] texas in the winter birding
Am planning a trip to the Rio Grande this winter. Any advice, recommendations, guides, books, motels, car rentals, restaurants, flights, when to book, what to wear, who to see, where stay, etc.?? I have limited info and I know there are some consumate snow birders here. Please respond off server. Thomas Maiello Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Sherburne cranes, rusty BBs and purple finches
I left work later than normal this afternoon, and pulled over to watch hundreds of sandhill cranes pouring into the refuge between 4:40 and 4:50. I was sitting at the corner of CRs 3 and 5 (info kiosk there) quite a bit farther east than where we've seen large number of birds earlier in the fall. They were flying in from NE of the refuge as well - I have no idea what fields they may be using during the day, but they've obviously shifted east, as visitors have told me numbers of birds in the fields along CRs 3 and 70 are fewer than they have been. I know there are still people coming up to look at cranes, so wanted to share this information. Go EAST, my friends! Since there are still many birds around, we'll do another crane count on Thursday morning. With the weather going downhill, I expect numbers of cranes to do the same, but I said that last week too, and we had the biggest count ever, so ... Also there were 13 rusty blackbirds in the yard at Sherburne HQ this afternoon, along with a few more red-winged blackbirds. There were also purple and American goldfinches at the feeders today, sporadically, along with a single eastern towhee. Cindy, where are you? Betsy Beneke Sherburne NWR Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Outstanding morning at Wisconsin Point, plus questions/photos on a distant greb
I just posted this to the Wisconsin birding listserv, and wanted to copy it here since the sightings were in the twin ports. Towards the bottom of this email I have a question about a distant grebe I saw this morning. This morning my friend Aldo and I did some birdwatching at sunrise along the Superior Entry (Wisconsin Point, Superior, WI). We found three Snow Buntings bathing & splashing along the rock piling (near shore), in addition to observing five White-winged Crossbills flying overhead. Aldo was only able to stay about half an hour. After he left, I headed to Lot 1, and had some awesome finds this morning! Bird list is below... Mallard American Black Duck Gadwall Northern Pintail Northern Shoveler Green-winged Teal WHITE-WINGED SCOTER - five of them! Common Goldeneye - 6 Bufflehead - 4 Bald Eagle Bonaparte's Gull - 3 FRANKLIN'S GULL - 1 non-breeding adult Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull THAYER'S GULL - 1 Juvenile at the entry ICELAND GULL (Kumlien's Gull) - 1 adult at the landfill GLAUCOUS GULL (not alive, in the talons of a Bald Eagle flying overhead, while I viewed gulls at the landfill!!) Blue Jay Common Raven Black-capped Chickadee American Tree Sparrow Snow Bunting White-winged Crossbill Many pictures to come later on (that I took through my SLR). Below is a description/set of pictures that I digiscoped on my smaller camera of a weird bird. Right now I'm at a friend's house in Ashland, and will be able to post good pictures later on when I am home. These first three pictures are of a very distant grebe (digiscoped at ~45x, and zoomed-in slightly with the camera). The bird was very distant. I called this bird a Western Grebe upon initially observing it, however upon looking at it through the camera now being near a computer, the extra large white face (lacking a well-defined droop in the black cap that goes through the eye) confuses me about this bird. Clark's Grebes will show a white area that surrounds the eye, and their bills tend to be a vibrant, bright yellow. Western Grebes have a dark cap on top of their head that extends through and just-slightly below the eye. The Western Grebe's bill tends to be an olive-yellow color from the individuals I have observed. Comments/feedback on the bird below are welcome as always! *Note that in photography (especially like the poor-quality photos below), white areas tend to "fade" into the dark areas throughout an image, sometimes making the white areas larger than they are and darker areas smaller than they really are. http://www.pbase.com/image/139473320 http://www.pbase.com/image/139473322 This could possibly be a different grebe, but it could also be the same individual as the grebe above. All of the grebe photos were taken in the same vicinity, however due to the distant waves, it was hard at times to consistently see the grebe. This grebe in the photos below has the usual traits of Western Grebes. Throughout North Dakota as well as Oregon, I have seen many Western Grebes, and have confirmed and documented Clark's Grebes on several occasions too. http://www.pbase.com/image/139473324 http://www.pbase.com/image/139473318 http://www.pbase.com/image/139473315 Here in Ashland, WI I scanned Long Bridge as well as Maslowski Beach. Ring-billed Gulls at Long Bridge, and at Maslowski Beach, I had Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Canada Goose (including one well-photographed LEUCISTIC Canada Goose)! Good birding, Erik Bruhnke Duluth, MN *NATURALLY AVIAN* - Guided Birdwatching Trips and Bird photography www.pbase.com/birdfedr www.naturallyavian.blogspot.com birdf...@gmail.com Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Lake and Cook counties today (11/7)
Taconite Harbor, Cook County: All three scoter species; 1 Black, 2 Surf and 3 White-winged, also 2 Horned Grebes. Stoney River Forest Road, Lake County: One female Spruce Grouse, about one mile north of Whyte Road. Also Boreal Chickadees and a Northern Shrike. Doug Kieser Minneapolis (with Howard Towle, Jim Otto, Scott Meyer) This message contains information which may be confidential and privileged. Unless you are the intended recipient (or authorized to receive this message for the intended recipient), you may not use, copy, disseminate or disclose to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received the message in error, please advise the sender by reply e-mail, and delete the message. Thank you very much. Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
Re: [mou-net] Fish Crow
Here is a link to the Request for Documentation form used by the MOU Records committee: http://moumn.org/docs/rqd.pdf If you mentally go through the questions while viewing a bird it is very helpful in getting good field notes. Terry Brashear Hennepin County, MN http://www.naturepixels.com birdnird AT yahoo.com From: Frank Gosiak To: MOU-NET@LISTS.UMN.EDU Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 3:08 PM Subject: [mou-net] Fish Crow After all the discussions about birding ethics and reporting (very rewarding) it is refreshing to hear about Fish Crows. My thought is: How do you report a bird when the best identifier is its vocals? I've been fooled by Blue jays who can imitate many birds, especially, my local Red Shouldered Hawk. If a Fish Crow is so similar to an American Crow in appearance this is going to be tough. Habitat is also in the mix but we are all aware that the American Crow can be found anywhere. I went to the recordings immediately after seeing the new posts on the Fish Crow. I have heard this sound, but, like many others passed it off as a variation of the American Crow. Also, I started to think of other things that could make this sound (bad wheel bearing, scraping branch ect.). Crows are in the general area all the time and I would have to see the vocal come out of the birds mouth. Also, I would like to know what the M.O.U. Selection Committee would like to see in a report. Can't report anything right now but I sure will be more watchful. This one is going to be tough to verify. Especially, if I report one tomorrow. I suppose I could send a picture to verify it. Frank Gosiak Little Falls, Morrison County Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Fish Crow
After all the discussions about birding ethics and reporting (very rewarding) it is refreshing to hear about Fish Crows. My thought is: How do you report a bird when the best identifier is its vocals? I've been fooled by Blue jays who can imitate many birds, especially, my local Red Shouldered Hawk. If a Fish Crow is so similar to an American Crow in appearance this is going to be tough. Habitat is also in the mix but we are all aware that the American Crow can be found anywhere. I went to the recordings immediately after seeing the new posts on the Fish Crow. I have heard this sound, but, like many others passed it off as a variation of the American Crow. Also, I started to think of other things that could make this sound (bad wheel bearing, scraping branch ect.). Crows are in the general area all the time and I would have to see the vocal come out of the birds mouth. Also, I would like to know what the M.O.U. Selection Committee would like to see in a report. Can't report anything right now but I sure will be more watchful. This one is going to be tough to verify. Especially, if I report one tomorrow. I suppose I could send a picture to verify it. Frank Gosiak Little Falls, Morrison County Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
Re: [mou-net] Fish Crows in Minneapolis????
Dan: As you are well aware, lots of species are separable by call mainly or only. Per the 6th, 2011, edition of the National Geographic field guide the best way to separate Fish Crow from other species of crows is by call. Cornell University http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search has calls for both American Crow and Fish Crow; Xeno-Canto http://www.xeno-canto.org/ has even more calls for both. This particular conundrum is reason for folks to carry audio recording equipment in the field. Onward! Steve Stevan Hawkins San Antonio TX -Original Message- From: Minnesota Birds [mailto:MOU-NET@LISTS.UMN.EDU] On Behalf Of dan&erika Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 9:19 AM To: MOU-NET@LISTS.UMN.EDU Subject: [mou-net] Fish Crows in Minneapolis Hi All-- Working on my blog, I serendipitously wrote a post today about the Fish Crow. ( http://dantallmansbirdblog.blogspot.com ) Come to discover that Fish Crows are found up the Mississippi Valley to St. Louis and accidentally into southern Ontario! Fish Crows are moving north. Twice this fall I saw or heard odd crows. One was noticeably small but not obviously young. Another time I heard crows call like a Fish Crow--this was in Updown near 47th street or so. At the time, not knowing that a Fish Crow was remotely possible, I wrote the calls off as off-pitch American Crows. No way I am listing these! But we should be on the alert. The two species are so similar, I am somewhat puzzled as to how one would tell them apart here in Minnesota. I have Fish and American crow calls on the blog. dan -- Dan or Erika Tallman Northfield, Minnesota http://sites.google.com/site/tallmanorum http://dantallmansbirdblog.blogspot.com http://picasaweb.google.com/danerika daner...@gmail.com " the best shod travel with wet feet" "Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes "--Thoreau Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Help transferring Birding Kit
Hello; If anyone from the metro area is planning to be in Southwest Minnesota before Thanksgiving, I am in need of help getting an MOU Birding Kit back to Bob Holtz in Roseville. Please contact me via email: b...@rohair.com. Thank you, Roger Schroeder Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Purple Sandpiper photos
Not sure if there's still a question of identity here, but if so maybe these photos will also help. Did not see the bird over the weekend... these are from earlier. Roger Schroeder, Marshall http://rogallery.rohair.com/Sharing/Birds/shorebirds/Purple%20Sandpiper/ Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Fish Crows in Minneapolis????
Wow - The problem might be that crows can do so many calls and make lot of other sounds. It would take some kind of special "diagnostic" call I imagine - I wonder if the fish crow rattle is different enough. - Original Message - From: "dan&erika" To: Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 9:19 AM Subject: [mou-net] Fish Crows in Minneapolis Hi All-- Working on my blog, I serendipitously wrote a post today about the Fish Crow. ( http://dantallmansbirdblog.blogspot.com ) Come to discover that Fish Crows are found up the Mississippi Valley to St. Louis and accidentally into southern Ontario! Fish Crows are moving north. Twice this fall I saw or heard odd crows. One was noticeably small but not obviously young. Another time I heard crows call like a Fish Crow--this was in Updown near 47th street or so. At the time, not knowing that a Fish Crow was remotely possible, I wrote the calls off as off-pitch American Crows. No way I am listing these! But we should be on the alert. The two species are so similar, I am somewhat puzzled as to how one would tell them apart here in Minnesota. I have Fish and American crow calls on the blog. dan -- Dan or Erika Tallman Northfield, Minnesota http://sites.google.com/site/tallmanorum http://dantallmansbirdblog.blogspot.com http://picasaweb.google.com/danerika daner...@gmail.com " the best shod travel with wet feet" "Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes "--Thoreau Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
Re: [mou-net] Fish Crows in Minneapolis????
Thank you. The Fish Crows sound a bit like the Martians in Tim Burton's Mars Attacks. I'll be watching and listening for them. Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Fish Crows in Minneapolis????
Hi All-- Working on my blog, I serendipitously wrote a post today about the Fish Crow. ( http://dantallmansbirdblog.blogspot.com ) Come to discover that Fish Crows are found up the Mississippi Valley to St. Louis and accidentally into southern Ontario! Fish Crows are moving north. Twice this fall I saw or heard odd crows. One was noticeably small but not obviously young. Another time I heard crows call like a Fish Crow--this was in Updown near 47th street or so. At the time, not knowing that a Fish Crow was remotely possible, I wrote the calls off as off-pitch American Crows. No way I am listing these! But we should be on the alert. The two species are so similar, I am somewhat puzzled as to how one would tell them apart here in Minnesota. I have Fish and American crow calls on the blog. dan -- Dan or Erika Tallman Northfield, Minnesota http://sites.google.com/site/tallmanorum http://dantallmansbirdblog.blogspot.com http://picasaweb.google.com/danerika daner...@gmail.com " the best shod travel with wet feet" "Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes "--Thoreau Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
[mou-net] Sherburne rusty blackbird
For those interested, the rusty blackbird is feeding in the yard this morning, on the ground between our headquarters building and the river - where the bird feeder is. Betsy Beneke Sherburne NWR Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
