I noticed a couple of interesting things when viewing the photos of the Black Guillemot that were taken by Erik Bruhnke around 11:30 AM on the 8th.
First, they showed the birds eyes to be closed. When we viewed the bird early in the morning on the 8th (around sunrise but with very adequate lighting) the eyes were at least half to two thirds open (more like Kim's photo that is posted on MOU Recently Seen). There were also some who noticed what appeared to be some occasional movement of the eyelids. Second, the photos show the angle of the bird's body/bill to be tipped forward making the bill less than parallel to the water (making it point more down toward the water). Early in the morning the bill appeared to me to be at least parallel or even slightly elevated. The differences may be stages of death or progression through rigor. Congratulations to Kim's MBW group for finding and reporting the bird and to Mike and others for updates. I had a very enjoyable (long) day of birding on the north shore and saw lots of great birds. Bob Ekblad Olmsted County in SE Minnesota http://www.Birding-Minnesota.com -----Original Message----- From: Minnesota Birds [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Hendrickson Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 10:03 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [mou-net] Black Guillemot Dear all Birders who saw the Black Guillemot this morning 11/8 that the Black Guillemot was indeed dead during the whole time we observed it till it was collected around 11:30am. The bird was in rigor mortis and that is the reason the bill was parallel to the water surface and as we all indicated the bird bounced around like a decoy or a rubber duck in a bath tub in the small harbor. So in my humble opinion the Black Guillemot was most likely deceased when I relocated it in that small area in the harbor. So I am personally not going to add it to my life list, MN list and county list. I would also like to reply Eric Harrold's comments: There are many aspects to birding that many people get involve with and today those who went to see the Black Guillemot came to see it because that is one of the aspects of birding they enjoy = bird listing. Also those who were there to see the Black Guillemot for their list or curiosity are also the same birders I know who are involve in bird conservation as well. Some of the North Americans top bird listers ( Kenn Kaufmann and others I know like him ) are also very active in bird conservation. Also when a bird such as a Black Guillemot shows up and people flock there to come to see it, the scene is also sort of like a reunion where birders we have not seen in some time can get together to get caught up with each other. I enjoyed seeing all the folks today who I have not seen in sometime. To make one other point the majority of people who were up along the north shore who discovered the sighting were from a MOU sponsored field trip that poured some needed money into lodging and restaurants estabolishments in Grand Marais. So rare birds can also be a gift to local business in Tofte or Grand Marais from us birders. Well it was a great day with great people! I do not regret a thing about traveling 85 miles to see a dead bird because I learned a lot of stuff about Guillemots and got to back to Tofte where I use to live. Mike Mike Hendrickson Duluth, Minnesota Website: http://webpages.charter.net/mmhendrickson/ Blog: http://colderbythelakebirding.blogspot.com/ ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
