[mou-net] Best bird while non-birding: two merlins at an outdoor wedding

As the wedding vows were being said at a beautiful site along the lake shore in Door County, WI., two juvenile merlins flew around and called raucously. Henceforth to be known as the merlin wedding by the few birders present among all the guests! -- Claudia Egelhoff Join or Leave mou-net:

Re: [mou-net] Best bird while non-birding: two merlins at an outdoor wedding

One Saturday afternoon, when we lived in Logan, Utah, we had just returned from a shopping trip to Ogden.  We were coming in the house with our purchases and were in the kitchen, when I looked out the door that went onto the deck and spotted a large object in the back yard, perched in a dead

[mou-net] Best Bird while non-birding:

This may make some cringe. I don't know if this counts, but I've seen some of my best birds while pheasant/duck hunting. I've seen dozens of short/long-earred owls. I kicked up a Wilson snipe in January once. Another time I had a Prairie Falco make a failed pass at another Wilson Snipe that I

Re: [mou-net] Best Bird While Not Birding?

A bit of a tough question to answer, because I'm 'always birding', especially if I'm out and about!* * One thing I've found about being a birder, which is being observant, is it's hard to shut it off!* *But here are my best while out doing something else: * White-winged Scoter *- while attending

Re: [mou-net] Best Bird While Not Birding?

Philadelphia vireo outside my office window in Arden Hills. Peregrine falcon perched on ledge of the Minneapolis Midtown Exchange Bldg above the party room during my daughter's wedding rehearsal dinner. Black throated blue warbler hitting the family room picture window in Wayzata and sitting

[mou-net] Best Bird While Not Birding? Maybe.

I n May, I was walking through  the parking lot at Rosedale late in the afternoon, no binoculars handy, when I saw three birds soaring near the intersection of Hwy. 36 and I35W. Two were clearly crows but what was the third larger bird? It was very dark, unlike juvenile eagles although the

[mou-net] Martin County shorebirds - including Ruddy Turnstone

North of Sherburne/I90 on Hwy 4 at CR132/32 there are hundreds of shorebirds including pecs, solitary, yellowlegs, and a few peeps - and also Franklins Ring-billed Gulls. Just west of there along 132 there is another wetland where I also found Ruddy Turnstone, Semi-palm Plover and Sanderling.

Re: [mou-net] Best Bird While Not Birding?

A number of years ago I was working at Dayton's Distribution Center which was in a huge warehouse. One day a golden-crowned kinglet got into the building and was frantically trying to find an exit. Another birder who also worked there and I were able to throw a shirt over the bird when it landed

[mou-net] Blue Earth County Sunday

Trent and Jack Robbins, Andrew Krenz and I got out for ab Hey birders, Trent and Jack Robbins, Andrew Krenz and I got out for about 4 hours of birding on Sunday morning.  Here are the highlights: The Blue Grosbeak continues to sing from the treetops by the gravel quarry on the south side of

[mou-net] western MN shorebirds, Henslow's Sparrow, et al.

The MBW (Minn Birding Weekends) group had 16 shorebird species this past weekend in Stevens-Big Stone-Lac Qui Parle Co's. Coincidentally, this is the same total posted by Doug Buri (with most of their birds apparently in SD): they recorded Am Avocet and Red-necked Phalarope which we did

[mou-net] Harris's Sparrow Question

Hello - Does anyone know if the Harris's Sparrow migrates back through Minnesota? I missed it as it migrated through this past spring. I would really like to find this bird this year. Thanks. Pete - aka - Sky the BirdMan Join or Leave mou-net:

[mou-net] Fun weekend birding get away!

My Husband and I just had a fun birding weekend in Horicon, Wisconsin that I thought I'd share for those who don't know about the Horicon Marsh. This is a HUGE marsh that is partly owned by the State and partly Federally owned. Most of the marsh isn't accessible by car but you can bike, hike,

[mou-net] Clay-colored Sparrow Aberration

Birding today confined to yard. Numerous Clay-colored nest here; I enjoy them but, by August, mono-pitch buzz-buzz-buzz becomes a bit anti-climactic. So today, when a Clay-colored launched a brief jazz riff (two measures), I was shocked. However, it quickly returned to boredom. Wonder if it

Re: [mou-net] MOU-NET Digest - 6 Aug 2011 to 7 Aug 2011 (#2011-217)

A summer tananger while reading. Ray Potthoff Spring Valley - Original Message - From: MOU-NET automatic digest system lists...@lists.umn.edu To: MOU-NET@LISTS.UMN.EDU Sent: Monday, August 08, 2011 12:03 AM Subject: MOU-NET Digest - 6 Aug 2011 to 7 Aug 2011 (#2011-217) There are 7

Re: [mou-net] Best Bird While Not Birding?

A yellow throated warbler on the deck of the restaurant at the resort in Mexico A Kiskadee on the patio of my hotel at the same resort. (I chased all over Texas and never found one--but in Mexico I could not count it) -Original Message- From: Minnesota Birds

[mou-net] Blue Grosbeaks and other notables in southwest MN

Bob Williams and I spent some time birding in the southwest corner of the state yesterday and today. Perhaps what was most interesting to us was the number of Blue Grosbeaks that we found (this has to be one of the best years for this species in MN). All of the birds were males either

Re: [mou-net] Blue Grosbeaks and other notables in southwest MN

I too had good numbers of HESP in Blue Mounds earlier this spring (3-4 males).  Saw BLGR there as well.   Eric Harrold From: Bob Dunlap rdun...@gustavus.edu To: MOU-NET@LISTS.UMN.EDU Sent: Monday, August 8, 2011 5:07 PM Subject: [mou-net] Blue Grosbeaks and other notables in southwest MN Bob

[mou-net] Thanks re: Harris's Sparrow

Wow! Thanks to the many who responded to my Harris's Sparrow question. I will be using much of the good feedback. Pete - aka - Sky the BirdMan Anoka, 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] Best Bird While Not Birding?

My first exposure to nature when I moved to MN from Oklahoma! I was out at Grand Forks AFB managing a project of installing deep wells and assessing base contamination. I was collecting samples from a monitoring well in late May in the morning after a rainy night. Puddles were everywhere. As I

Re: [mou-net] Best Bird While Not Birding?

Long before I even started birding and while attending the University of California at Santa Barbara (darned ornithologists who taught zoology courses that I took for my anthro major made me do it for labs; now I can't quit), I was working out on my bicycle on a frontage road of the

Re: [mou-net] Best Bird While Not Birding?

My best bird while not birding occurred when I was a kid, many years before I became a birder. I grew up in Golden Valley. My dad built our house on 2 acres and there was a large field behind our house. One winter day my mom came and got me and told me to look out back. There sitting on a stump

Re: [mou-net] Best Bird While Not Birding?

A Bald Eagle soaring outside a hotel window while attending a professional seminar in Northern Arizonia! (-I still have a blank page in my notes!) Claudia Anders --Original Message-- From: Bill Kahn Sender: Minnesota Birds To: MOU-NET@LISTS.UMN.EDU ReplyTo: Bill Kahn Subject: Re:

[mou-net] Best bird while not birding

Kind of a double header: driving to the wedding of my sister-in-law in Maple Grove with my mother and young daughter, I noticed something odd flying parallel to our road. Trying to drive and look (don't tell my wife!), it looked like two birds flying side by side. As we continued, the bird(s)