As you leave Ely on Hwy #1 headed towards the North Shore there is a forest that burned on both sides of the road 1 1/2 years ago. During the past 6 months the insects in the standing burned trees have supported some black-backed woodpecker activity There areas that were burned were not on public land. There are homes in the forest on the west side of the road and not east. A snowmobile trail crosses north of the burned forest. There are a couple of side roads - each end of Cord Wood Lane - that enable possible parking without interfering with access.
With all this being said *the only place to bird is to walk along the narrow roadsides of Highway #1.* I talked with one of the homeowners and *the only upsetting aspect of the birding is that people are roaming up his road/driveway near the house, snowshoeing about his property and making them uncertain about what people will do. *Not everyone owns a platbook or a Superior National Forest map, but in places like this *if you don't find the woodpeckers from the highway, then you have to keep trying until you do or look elsewhere.* Maybe its the luck of the draw, but many people have already spotted these woodpeckers from the highway. I hesitate to even bring up the location, but since some boundaries have been crossed, I think it is worth a reminder that often no one is looking for conflict but it finds them. There was a time that I didn't understand that trading respect for propriety rights for a bird sighting was not worth it. There has been no harm or ill feelings yet. Let's keep it that way. p.s. I don't want this to turn into a discussion or debate, but just a clarification. -- *Bill Tefft [email protected] 218-235-8078 * ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
