Today is *technically* the last day to observe Rusty Blackbirds in Minnesota to be included in the Rusty Blackbird Spring Migration Blitz. However, as all of you are well aware, spring is slow this year. Therefore, I encourage you to continue watching for Rusty Blackbirds through the end of the month.
When you do (or don't) see Rusty Blackbirds, submit your sightings to www.eBird.org. The sooner you can enter your data, the better; leaders of the International Rusty Blackbird Working Group are currently applying for grants and are using results from this blitz as support to receive grants. Checklists containing Rusty Blackbirds are more widespread in Wisconsin than Minnesota at the moment, but I think we are catching up quickly. I was just e-mailing with a birder who had 50+ Rusty Blackbirds in her backyard near Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, so they are definitely starting to move through in numbers! The Rusty Blackbird carving trophy is finished and will go to the state that submits the most eBird checklists containing Rusty Blackbirds. If you are unfamiliar with eBird, where to look for Rusties, how to identify them, or if you simply want to share your sightings with me, feel free to shoot me an e-mail. You may find the official spring blitz website helpful as well: http://rustyblackbird.org/outreach/migration-blitz/. Thanks for all of your effort! Alyssa DeRubeis Lake Mills, IA ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
