[mou-net] Ruffed Grouse drumming, 3/19, Hibbing
Just for the sake of phenology, I thought I'd report that I heard a Ruffed Grouse drumming several times in an area north of Hibbing on 3/19. My records aren't the best, but this is about a week earlier than I've noted my first drumming grouse in past years. -- Shawn Conrad http://users.2z.net/itasca_chippewa_birding/ 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] FW: great story
Thought this story was worth sharing. Karen Bearden is an East Coast very active Birder Friend. Carol Crust -Original Message- From: Karen Bearden [mailto:chickadeebird...@earthlink.net] Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 11:34 PM To: Karen Bearden Subject: great story Howdy! This is an amazing story from a birder in NJ that was shared on the Carolinabirds listserve. Stunning photos and a great poem, too. Happy, SAFE birding!! Peace, Karen Last Sunday, I fell on the jetty at Barnegat Light State Park while photographing Harlequins and other sea birds. I am sharing the following with you for a couple of reasons, 1) I am still here to tell the tale and 2) hopefully, you will all be very, very careful whenever and wherever you go birding. As I found out,it doesn't take much to get into a dangerous situation. August has been trying to rein me in for a couple of years now...Barnegat has taught me my lesson. Please click on the following link to see a poem and some of the photographs memorizing the occasion: http://www.howardsview.com/Jetty/Jetty.html Regards, H. . No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.238 / Virus Database: 270.11.21/2014 - Release Date: 03/20/09 06:59:00 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] Black-backed Woodpecker - Cass Lake
This morning I was working in the Cass Lake area. During my travels, I saw a female Black-backed Woodpecker on Oak Point Rd, .6 mile E of 371, several miles S of Cass Lake. Other phenological notes: - Brown Creepers singing (not just calling) in Cass County. - Trumpeter Swans and the common early waterfowl in open water at Cass Lake and Federal Dam - LOTS of Bald Eagles - Northern Hawk-owl on 73 NOT present - Flock of juncos in Cass Lake - No larks, longspurs, or buntings seen on any of the fields in NE Cass. - My FOY Red-winged Blackbird in Cass Lake -- Shawn Conrad http://users.2z.net/itasca_chippewa_birding/ 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] archery range
I've had several inquiries about the archery range. This is a unit of Spring Lake Regional Park located at the intersection of Fahey Ave. and Pine Bend Trail west of Hastings. Take Hi 52 and exit on Hi 55 east toward Hastings. Turn north on Fahey just east of where CR 42 meets Hi 55 from the south. Go one mile and park in the lot and look at the trail map on the kiosk. Find the spot on the map showing the observation area and go there. A park bench awaits. This morning (Sat) at 9:00am there were very geese present...then, almost on cue, several hundred white-fronts arrived from field feeding to the south with 17 Ross's Geese in tow. Hundreds of geese and ducks continued to arrive over the next hour or so including many Cacklers and one blue morph Snow Goose. The majority of the geese tend to land out of view on the north side of the islands. Photo opportunities are rather limited due to distance, by some nice aerial shots are possible with luck. All the dabblers are present, as is a flock of 2- 3 thousand Aythya divers, but a scope is a must. This has been a banner year for white-fronts and Ross's in Dakota County. Good luck. Jim Mattsson Eagan 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] Golden Eagle in Brown County
At about 12:30 I had great looks at a juvenile Golden Eagle on Hwy 257 at the SE corner of Linden Lake just east of Hanska. Also lots of waterfowl at WMA just north of Nicollet on Hwy 111 in Nicollet County including flocks of Snow Geese and Greater White-fronted Geese overhead. Bob Williams, Bloomington Sent via BlackBerry by ATT 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] Golden Eagle
After having a not so great morning at the Sherburne Refuge i went home. I decided to keep the bins out just in case and it paid off. I noticed a good deal of eagles were moving through while i was watching Basketball. Then i noticed a strange one so i got my bins on it and sure enough it was a Immature type Golden Eagle(Golden head, windows, two tone tail). That made my day and a great yard bird. Good birding to all and i hope some geese can come next. Nathan Schirmacher Princeton,MN Mille Lacs County _ Windows Live™ SkyDrive: Get 25 GB of free online storage. http://windowslive.com/online/skydrive?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_skydrive_032009 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] McLeod Co. Ross's Goose, N. Shrike
I birded several areas in McLeod Co. today with good success. I started at Lake Marion, which has a good deal of open water. Birds at Lake Marion included: Canada Goose Mallard Gadwall Northern Shoveler Canvasback--the largest group I've seen in a while, almost as numerous as the scaup Redhead Ring-necked Duck Lesser Scaup Bufflehead Common Merganser Ruddy Duck My next stop was a small pond/flooded field on Yacht Ave. just north of 115th St. There was a large group of Greater White-fronted Geese there. After several minutes of watching them, a lone Ross's Goose swam to the middle of the pond (I had apparently missed it on my first 3-4 scans of the pond). I first confidently called it a Ross's, but I took a step back when I noticed a hint of a grin patch. But after closer study the grin patch seemed to be more a trick of the light (it disappeared at certain angles), and because of that, coupled with the triangular bill, I'm fairly certain it's a true Ross's. While there, several hundred more White-fronted Geese flew over, with a single white goose in one flock. Because its size seemed to be on par with the rest of the geese, I'm leaning toward Snow Goose, but I can't say definitively. I also added Green-winged Teal to the list. My last stop was on the east end 190th St. just south of Hwy 7 along the Crow River. While there I spotted an impressive 15 Bald Eagles (8 of them in a single tree) and several Hooded Mergansers. Ring-billed and Herring Gulls had also come to feast on the dead carp lining the shore. In the brushy field just to the west of those birds a Northern Shrike was feeding. I was able to get a scope on it and confirm that the mask did not extend above the beak. Good birding, Josh Christian _ Windows Live™ SkyDrive: Get 25 GB of free online storage. http://windowslive.com/online/skydrive?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_skydrive_032009 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] Cross-border challenge
Well, I’m not the type of guy to let a border stand in my way so I thought I might try to get a few Minnesotans interested in our little fund-raising effort up here in Manitoba. After all, the birds don’t care much about that abstract line between us. Every year the Baillie Birdathon raises money for Birds Studies Canada and the James L. Baillie Memorial Fund. More than 7,000 people from Canada and around the world participate in and/or sponsor the Baillie Birdathon in May of every year. During a 24-hour period in May, they attempt to find as many bird species as they can, sponsored at a flat rate, or on a per-species basis. Birders can designate a favourite conservation organisation to receive a portion of the funds they raise. Every year there is a celebrity birder. Last year this was none other than David Sibley. This year it will be the “Manitoba All-Stars”. Cal Cuthbert, Ken De Smet, Rudolf Koes, Peter Taylor and Adam Walleyn will attempt to break their own Canada big day record of 214 species set in 2008. This year, they are not just showing off their extraordinary birding skills, they’re also raising money at the same time. To sponsor them go to: http://www.bsc-eoc.org/support/birdathon then on the left click sponsor a participant and select the first item from the drop-down menu on our website, which is Manitoba All-stars. (alternatively enter the Participant ID # 100093) Now… to make this even more interesting… perhaps some folks in MN might like to try to beat the Manitoba big day total? Nothing like a little friendly competition to spur people on! If you feel like biting, why not register as a participant at the above website by clicking on “register now” and get in touch with me if you do. It’s a lot of fun and all for a great cause! Anyway, what better way of doubling the tremendous joy of birding than by raising money for the birds at the same time! Contact Christian Artuso (Bird Studies Canada’s Manitoba Program Manager) at cartuso[AT]birdscanada.org or (204) 945-6816 for more details. _ Share photos with friends on Windows Live Messenger http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9650734 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] Common Loon, Rock County
Today Chad Gustafson and I went birding SW in search of early geese and waterfowl. The highlight may have been finding an early Common Loon at the gravel pit quarry ponds a couple miles north of Luverne just east of Hwy. 75 (just south of Blue Mounds State Park). There was also a total of 19 Ross's Geese at this location, as well as flocks of Greater White-fronted and Snow Geese flying overhead. Other highlights from today: -10 Great-tailed Grackles (3 males, 7 females) along Hwy. 86 in Jackson County just north of CR 4 -single Ross's Goose at this same location -Mixed flock of Greater White-fronted, Snow, Ross's, and Cackling Geese totaling around 8,000 birds along Hwy. 86 a couple miles north of Lakefield in Jackson County -Bald Eagles in Jackson, Rock, and Murray County (including 12 on one small lake in Murray) Most of the lakes were still frozen, but the majority of sewage ponds and small bodies of water were ice-free. Bob Dunlap, Nicollet 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
[mou-net] McLeod farm marshpond
One nice hotspot today SW of Hutchinson (~1mi N on CR58 from CR89 T-intersection): Ross Goose-1 Cackling Goose-2 maybe a few others (sleeping in the hummocks) Greater White-Fronted Goose-~40 Redhead-1 Canvasback-several Ringnecks-many Lesser Scaup-few Amer. Coot-few Northern Shoveler-few Bufflehead-2 Gadwall-2 Blue-winged Teal-2 back near the T-intersection a horde of Red-wings Grackles, mixed in were Brewer's Blackbirds and a few Rusty's. Other places of note: Meeker County-Kingston area FOY GreenWinged Teal, 3-crows harassing a Great Horned Owl, Brewers and Rusty Blackbird, Killdeer, Amer.Tree Sparrows, many Bluebirds. mjb 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] Common Loon PB Grebe in Washington County
While searching for GWF Geese in Washington County (no luck) I found an early Common Loon and an early (I think) Pied-billed Grebe out from the marina in Afton. Lots of ducks, nothing new or unusual. Linda Sparling 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] Ross's Goose / Northern Shoveler
Hi all, Got two new yard birds today!! This morning while looking out the window for PFW I had a lone Ross's Goose following right behind a lone Canada Goose!!! I ran out on the deck to watch then pass and about two minutes later I had a pair (hen and drake) Northern Shoveler do a fly over two, been a while since I got two new yard birds in 3 minutes!!! Andrew -- Andrew Longtin Corcoran (Hennepin Co.) Minnesota See my WEB pages at: www.birderguy.com Email: birder...@comcast.net I'm looking for a job!! Please see http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewlongtin Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory Supporter http://www.hawkridge.org Minnesota Ornithologists Union Member http://www.moumn.org Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) Member http://www.hmana.org Cornell Lab Member (PFW) http://birds.cornell.edu/pfw 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] Oriole sighted?
Today at Pet Expo in Mankato a customer reported a male Northern oriole in his yard Friday, 3/20. I was very busy and didn't have time to go into detail, but they were residential. I would be sceptical were it not for all the unusual sightings this winter/spring. Also a male oriole would be one of the more difficult birds to misidentify even by a total novice-and I have no reason to believe these folks were that. I know we're in an economical crisis but I ran my tail off at work today. Bird lovers are not quitting on their feathered friends. John Nelson Good Thunder MN 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] Dakota County: Spring Lake Park
This morning a I joined a small group of birders including Vincent Vieth (aged 2 and half) and Katie Vieth (not yet a year old) in birding Spring Lake Park. First we headed down from the Archary Range to the observation point on Spring Lake, a wide spot on the Mississippi. We passed Jim Mattson in the parking lot. We found 14 species of waterfowl, including White Fronted Goose, Cackling Goose, and Red-breasted Merganser. We had a flock of Cackling Geese fly by with a couple of Canadas mixed in to catch our attention. At the parking lot there were Phoebes, Bluebirds, and Song Sparrows. After the hike down to the river, we headed into the back country of the park with a hike of probably a couple of miles each way down to river. While it was for the most part not particularly birdy, we did enjoy the late winter walk. We had several singing Brown Creepers, but saw only one. The most interesting bird of the day was a calling loon that was heard down at the end of the trail. We saw lots of Bald Eagles and Red-tailed Hawks, and a probable Rough-legged heading upstream. After the hike I made it home without falling asleep at the wheel, made lunch, and slept for about four or five hours. Steve Weston on Quiggley Lake in Eagan, MN swest...@comcast.net Steve Weston on Quiggley 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
