As winter lingers and we scramble about looking for the few species we can find, the terms ethics and correct identification seem to come up to fill our spare time. I've enjoyed reading the articles (not reports) by Mike, David, Sparky and Shawn which all seem valid. It causes me to reflect on my own personal approach to birding. As Shawn wrote it is not uncommon to see the Hoary Redpoll in North Central Minnesota and he doesn't look at the bird as a rare sighting and he recognizes the markings better from his experiences. Others who are not as familiar with the bird might mess up a little when they report a sighting , but, they should report it never the less. How else can they become experienced unless they make a few mistakes? Anyway let the Rare Bird committee sort it out. They have paid their dues and have worked through their mistakes. Before I write my report I would like to say this is still one of the best sites for info about birding in Minnesota. Its not perfect but it sure has its advantages.
This winter has been good to me in Morrison County where I live. I got a Varied Thrush, Long Tailed Duck, Golden Eagle and recently I found a Hoary Redpoll ( I know what they are I saw a few in Koochiching when I lived there) and 3 Black Backed Woodpeckers (all new county birds). Also reported by others in the county were another Longtailed Duck, White Winged Scoter (Rice Lake by Crane Meodows National Wildlife Refuge) and a Harlequin Duck (Lake Alexander) but they were all killed by hunters. The birds are here but it takes work and more birders to find them. As far as the Black Backed Woodpeckers, Milt Blomberg and I found 1 just West of Cushing in the Tamaracks. This spot is easy to get to because you can follow the snowmobile trail back. The other spot is on 200th street and County Road 11 in N.W Morrison by the Little Elk W.M.A. Milt went back to find a nice male and female but it is a very hard place to get to. You have to walk back to the bog 1 mile down the river opening and then the work begins as you walk another mile in the Larch Trees before you get to the site.. Milt used snowshoes and I follow him back using boots. I was spent when I got to the site. We took an alternate route back only to get tangled up and taking an additional 3.5 hours to find our way out. We were totally shot when whe got out which was not very wise.Stick to the trail Milt went in on and follow the same way back. Call for info if you are brave hearted and foolish enough. Milts on a roll. He has found Black Backs in Stearns and now in Morrison. They are in these counties but it takes a lot of work to cover these out of the way places. I've been calling Milt: Black Back Blomberg, because of his ability to find them. The D.N.R reported 9 good Larch stands in Morrison to Denny Martin. They also said they saw a Hawk Owl by the Little Elk area. I haven't been able to locate it but if someone else is in the area and they find it. Please report it to me. Have good birding experiences and above all remain safe. Frank Gosiak fgos...@gmail.com 1-320-267-1667 Little Falls Minnesota. ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
