One might also consider the fact that in Itasca County, American Woodcocks seem to be exceptionally numerous/vocal in late March and early April. I biked to Taconite on Thursday morning and heard 4 along the Mesabi bike trail--as well as seeing a couple of pathetically uncamoflaged snowshoe hares for whom the snow disappeared a little too quickly, heard one right in the town of Taconite, and had one fly across Hwy 169 shortly after. It's difficult to go anywhere in the low light hours right now without encountering at least one.
Incidentally, I was in southwest Missouri near the end of February (immediately before the big road-closing snows in Minnesota) and the woodcocks were congregating in the fields there at night as if they were already staging to migrate here. Shawn Conrad Bovey >From: "Holly Peirson" <[email protected]> >To: "'Larson Kelly'" <[email protected]>,"'WISBIRD'" ><[email protected]>,"'MOU-net'" <[email protected]> >Subject: RE: [mou] Nighthawks and Pewees >Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 00:25:06 -0500 > >Kelly: > > > >Tree Swallows are the generalists of the swallow family, they can stay >later >in the fall and come earliest in the spring because they also eat berries. >Likewise for phoebes. Nighthawks need a lot of flying insects, which we >don't have yet. I have also seen a few moths and skippers out, but we have >a >few weeks yet to the numbers of swarming, higher-flying bugs needed to >sustain most insect catchers-on-the-wing! > > > >I wondered the same thing a few years ago, so I looked this up and read all >about it in several places. > > > >Holly Peirson > >Columbus, Anoka Co. > > > > _____ > >From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On >Behalf >Of Larson Kelly >Sent: Friday, March 30, 2007 9:04 PM >To: WISBIRD; MOU-net >Subject: [mou] Nighthawks and Pewees > > > >Please indulge this inquiry and forgive me if this something I should >already know. (also playing devils advocate) > > > >What is the difference between accepting the sighting of 100's of insect >eating Tree Swallows, or an early Phoebe here and there and not accepting >the odd Nighthawk? > > > >I was in WI March 8-13th and saw several good hatches of moths in the >Northern Kettle Morain area while night driving. Our unseasonably warm >weather has produced similar hatches of nocturnal flyers in far Northern >MN, >evidenced on my windshield. > > > >P.S. > >I understand the need for visual confirmation with this species due to the >vocal similarities to Woodcock. > > > >Kelly Larson > >Bemidji Minnesota > >Eschew Obfuscation! > >The middle of Nowhere is Somewhere! > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ i'm making a difference. Make every IM count for the cause of your choice. Join Now. http://clk.atdmt.com/MSN/go/msnnkwme0080000001msn/direct/01/?href=http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=hmtagline
