In Wednesday's Minnepolis Star Tribune I wrote about the handful of=20 reported sightings of American Dipper in Minnesota. I suggested that=20 visitors to the Boundary Waters area this summer be alert for the bird.=20=
I received the following reply Wednesday afternoon. After the first=20 message, I asked Mr. Petschl for specifics, like when he saw the bird=20 he describes as an American Dipper. Like, last week. I spoke with him this morning by phone. He seems certain of his=20 identification of the bird. He describes it as a chunky, non-descript=20 gray bird, no markings, moving from rock to rock in the stream, and=20 occasionally disappearing beneath the surface. The location of the=20 sighting is a two-hour paddle from the put-in point. Jim Williams Wayzata FIRST MESSAGE FROM WILLIAM PETSCHL I=92m no experienced birder, but=85 I believe my friends and I have just=20= seen this bird south of the Gunflint Trail, three portages from the=20 Tuscarora lodge. We were waiting for a slow moving church group to=20 clear out, and paddled around the corner to view the falls. A small=20 grey bird flittered from side to side, from rock to rock, and then=20 under the water. Now I=92ve seen this bird on television (Marty=20 Stoffer?), and I had no idea they were rare in Minnesota. If you like I=20= can pin point the spot for you. It was near the north end of the=20 portage from Cross Bay Lake to Rib Lake. William J. Petschl Vice-President of Investments Van Clemens & Co., Inc. SECOND MESSAGE. following request for more info: Subject: RE: American dipper Well Jim, it was last Thursday 5/19/05, about 11 am. The water fall is 6 or 8 feet tall coming into Cross Bay Lake. I think we spooked the=20= bird a little by paddling so close to the falls, and when we drifted back,=20 that=92s when we saw it jumping from rock to rock and the under the water. The weather was overcast and drizzly, maybe forty degrees. There wasn't a=20 lot of flying insects at that time, however over the next three days several hatches had occurred. (I've got the welts to prove it.) The BWCAW entry point is #50. William J. Petschl Vice-President of Investments Van Clemens & Co., Inc.
