Hmmm. I take issue with a few points myself. At 11:37 AM 8/8/2003 -0500, Anthony Hertzel wrote: >But you still need a minimum population level to sustain the species. Recent >studies indicate that by the end of the breeding season (right about now) you >ought to be able to find close to 4000 bobwhite in any one local breeding >area. Is anyone in Winona, Houston, or Fillmore county reporting even 1% of >these numbers?
I've birded a lot in southern Michigan and Illinois, both of which are WELL within the established breeding range of bobwhites, and have NEVER seen close to 4000, or 400, or even 40 in a single local area. >> The historic range of Northern Bobwhite did >> encompass extreme southern Minnesota. > >Actually, it probably did not. T.S. Roberts: "A permanent resident, breeding chiefly in the southeastern quarter of the state but has spread westward and northwestward to the Dakotas and, to a limited extent, into the forested areas northward. Minnesota is at the limit of its present northwestern range in the United States." (1932, 1936) Laura Erickson Duluth, MN Journey North Science Writer <http://learner.org/jnorth/current.html> <http://www.lauraerickson.com/> There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. --Rachel Carson
