I have 2 recent favorite encounters - white-winged junco in the parking lot at Stockade Lake in the Black Hills - very interested in its reflection in the chrome on the vehicle. The 2nd is a cardinal in the parking lot at the Boat Ramp at Oakwood Lakes State Park - it always ends up fighting itself in the car mirrors. These aren't really unusual locations - my best for that was an Eastern Screech Owl fledgling in the WalMart parking lot here in Brookings- running and dodging cars.
Perhaps the most interesting lot birds I observed were in Bowman, ND at the Cenex Gas Station - when someone would pull in they would fly down out of the overhead canopy and hop into the grills of the vehicles being refueled. I watched them for quite awhile one day - they were cleaning grasshoppers and other insects out of the radiator. A nice little added service to wary travelers! K. C. Jensen, Ph.D. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences SPB 138D, Box 2140B South Dakota State University Brookings, SD 57007 (605)688-4781 (office) (605)690-6104 (cell) (605)688-4515 (FAX) wfs.sdstate.edu/wfsdept/faculty/kcjensen.htm 100% of the shots you don't take don't go in - Wayne Gretzky -----Original Message----- From: Minnesota Birds [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of douglas chapman Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 3:10 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [mou-net] Unusual locations Best for me? Black-capped Vireos in parking lot at Wichita Mountains NWR in OKlahoma. It's the easiest place to see them now; far easier than anywhere in Texas. Doug Chapman Sioux Falls, SD On Jan 24, 2011, at 1:35 PM, Bob Holtz wrote: > My best parking lot find was the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. I walked through the > small area in which they are found in St. Louis. Finding none I returned to > the parking lot where one was waiting for me, perched on the curbing. > > > > Bob Holtz > > > > _____ > > From: Minnesota Birds [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Pastor Al > Schirmacher > Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 11:08 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [mou-net] Unusual locations > > > > Saw an interesting question on Facebook this morning: what is your favorite > parking lot bird? Got me thinking about unusual locations: > > * Parking lot: Gray-crowned Rosy Finches in Cloquet, MN parking lot > > * Yard: tie between Cattle Egret and Prairie Falcon, north of Princeton, MN > > * Work: Lark Sparrow > > * Restaurant: tie between BB Magpie & Golden Eagle > > * Hotel: Black-throated Magpie-Jay (business trip in Mexico many years ago, > probably not unusual for residents). > > How about you? > > Al Schirmacher > Princeton, MN > Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties > [email protected] > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > > _____ > > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1202 / Virus Database: 1435/3400 - Release Date: 01/24/11 > > > ---- > 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 ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
