As fall migration begins, started thinking through personal (Minnesota) hits & misses for 2008. The balance of unusual hits & common misses this year is interesting.
Hits * Harlequin Duck * Barrow's Goldeneye * Sharp-tailed Grouse * Common Moorhen * American Avocet * Red Knot * Great Gray Owl * Northern Hawk Owl * Say's Phoebe * Black-billed Magpie * Boreal Chickadee * Varied Thrush * Black-throated Blue Warbler Misses * Greater White-fronted, Snow, Ross' and Cackling Goose (bizarre!) * All scoters (but late fall & winter are my best shots) * Red-throated & Pacific Loons (often see in fall on Mille Lacs Lake) * Yellow Rail (simply haven't gotten up to Aitkin County early enough in the morning) * American Woodcock (despite probable nesting across the street from my home; son Nathan had on numerous occasions) * Thayer's & Iceland Gulls * Eastern Screech Owl * Northern Saw-wet Owl * American Three-toed Woodpecker (despite helping with the Sax-Zim field trips) * Acadian Flycatcher * Western Kingbird (despite past/probable nesting in Sherburne County) * American Pipit * Cerulean Warbler (despite sightings in Sherburne Refuge) * Henslow's Sparrow * Dickcissel (nested in yard last 2-3 years) * Red & White-winged Crossbills (haven't chased this summer, slow this winter) Good birding to all! Al Schirmacher Princeton, MN Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties
