Three Three-toed Woodpeckers for Isabella
Last year I wrote about how Isabella and Beltrami were tied with 9 Three-toed Woodpeckers apiece (yes that's 54 toes) all-time on the Christmas Bird Count. Well the secretive little woodpeckers avoided Isabella while 4 were noted in Beltrami giving Beltrami a pretty daunting lead. However, neither the high total for Beltrami nor the bad luck for Isabella was the story of last years count. The upstart who spoiled Beltrami's day in the sun was none other than Rice Lake NWR by McGregor. Until last year there has never been a Three-toed Woodpecker recorded on the CBC in the NWR and then in the blink of eye all that changed. No fewer than 5 American Three-toed Woodpeckers were counted on the Rice Lake count. As amazing as that sounds it gets better, that is an all-time single count record number for any location in the state (including Beltrami and Isabella) and although I don't know for sure it may be the only time a single count circle was shared by American Three-toed Woodpeckers and Ring-necked Pheasants. Don't miss the fun. Contact your local Audubon Chapter, the MOU CBC Coordinator, Carl Greiner at (507) 271-8286, or visit the MOU CBC website at <http://www.moumn.org/CBC/> http://www.moumn.org/CBC/ for more information or to sign up. Special Request: As you make your plans for the Christmas Bird Count, consider venturing out from the larger cities to some of the more remote counts. Participating in some of the outstate counts will not only help out the valiant participants and compilers who are keeping these counts going with 5 or 10 people but will improve the data by detecting more species and higher numbers of birds. Not to mention they are just plain fun! There are some counts such as Beltrami Island and Isabella that are more of an adventure than a count. It is also a great opportunity to expand your bird list, learn about the area from local experts, and meet the natives. If this is your goal, venture out from Rochester or Mankato to Roseau, Baudette, or Aurora and you may encounter Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Grosbeaks, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Spruce Grouse, Ravens, Common or Hoary Redpolls, Magpie, Three-toed or Black-backed Woodpeckers, Gray Jays, Goshawk, Gyrfalcon, Northern Hawk Owls, or Great Gray Owls. Conversely, set out from Duluth or Fargo to the southern counts of Fairmont, Mountain Lake-Windom, Jackson County, Wabasha, or Owatonna and you might encounter Screech Owls, Pheasant, Wild Turkey, Northern Cardinals, Gray Partridge, the wayward sparrow of the year, Tufted Titmice, Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, American Kestrel, and in general a much higher species count than you would have up North. So why don't you do your local count and then pick another to help out. If you need help planning you can browse the counts via the M.O.U. CBC locations page http://moumn.org/CBC/locations_map.php or see what is happening by date on the calendar page http://moumn.org/CBC/cal/calendar.php or just ask me. Finally, I realize that it can sometimes be difficult to venture out to a more remote count so if you would be willing to carpool as a driver or a passenger from the larger cities to some of these remote counts please contact me at the addresses below and I will attempt to match you up with others. Thank you for participating in the Christmas Bird Count, Carl Greiner M.O.U CBC Coordinator 1616 Hill St. S.W. Chatfield, MN. 55923 507-271-8286 cgreiner at mchsi.com <blocked::mailto:cgreiner at mchsi.com> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://moumn.org/pipermail/mou-net_moumn.org/attachments/20081118/7cfce909/attachment-0001.html>
