Greetings MN birders- Just wanted to give a shout out to a couple individuals who helped make my MN visit memorable and productive.
First Bryan T. met me at Murphy-Hanrehan in Scott County on Saturday morning (6/16/18). It was very early in the morning. It was very stormy with high winds and a bunch of rain. Bryan toughed it out like a good MN native (though he isn't a native). We didn't see or hear my target birds in the inclement weather, but our outing reaffirmed my belief that Minnesotans are tough stock and genuinely great people. In Nerstrand Big Woods SP, Rice County, I found my lifer Acadian Flycatcher on 6/15/18. I co-led a field trip with my college roommate in Nerstrand Big Woods when I was a Carleton student in 1983. He did the ecology and I covered the geology of this park for a classroom of fourth graders. We had a gas then. I had a gas 35 years later. On 6/14/18 I visited Sax Zim Bog in St. Louis County. Peder S. was most generous in providing me with a detailed game plan so I could make the most of my one and only day in the North Woods. Between stops I listened to Bob Dylan (North Woods native) tracks to get into the mood. I fed mosquitoes and ticks during stops. I found a boat-load of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (photographed), Golden-winged Warblers (lifers with photographs), Chestnut-sided Warblers (photographed), Ovenbirds (photographed), Mourning Warblers (photographed), Black-and-White Warblers, Blackburnian Warblers (lifers with photographs), Cape May Warblers (lifers), Le Conte's Sparrow, Bobolinks (photographed), gobs of Yellow-bellied Flycatchers (lifers), many Swamp Sparrows (with photographs), and a pair of Black-backed Woodpeckers. I found 103 species in my limited time and know this was thanks to Bryan T. and Peder S. and recommendations from others on this list-serve. Thank you all for your generosity. I did whiff on Prothonotary Warbler, Hooded Warbler and Cerulean Warbler. Guess I'll have to come back in another 5 years for my next college reunion to chase a few more birds on my wish list. Until 2023, good birding, Mark -- Mark Gonzalez Bend, Oregon ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
