The Star-Tribune for today had an obit for Ken LaFond. While most of us
are locality based birders, with most of our records from particular
counties or regions, Ken was truly a Minnesota birder. He is one of only
three birders to have recorded at least 200 species in each of the 87
counties in Minnesota. Only Bob Janssen and the late Ray Glassel are in
that exclusive club or as Bob put it, only three of us were crazy enough
to do that kind of listing. When one thinks about the number of trips
needed to accomplish this, it is mind boggling. Yet it is this kind of
dedication to listing that helps give us the kind of information we now
have on bird distribution in the state.
Joseph Hickey, in his classic book,A Guide To Bird Watching, writes that
some regard birding as "a mild paralyis of the central nervous system
which can be cured only by rising at dawn and sitting in a bog". Based
on on his amazing record of statewide listing, Ken had a serious case
that was never cured. He will be missed by all of us who value not only
tho observation of birds, but the documentation of those observations as
well.
Manley Olson
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