[mou] scissor-tail & stuff

[tpulles]

Spent Friday & Saturday birding in totally opposite areas of
the state!

It started on Saturday, Oct 9, when my family and I went to
Red Rock Prairie with hopes of Smith's Longspurs.  Struck
out there, but then we went to the previously reported
location for great-tailed grackles around Cty Rd 86 and 730
St in Jackson County (thank you, Carol Schumacher.)  Here
there was a single male GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE and three
females feeding on the ground alongside the farm pond.  We
also checked Spirit Lake for the black-headed gull, but to
no avail.

We drove home, slept, and awoke at 3:30 in the morning on
Sunday, Oct 10.  My dad and I left at 4:00 AM to head to
Duluth (my mom stayed home, but she sure would regret it!). 
We stopped at 40th Ave W around 7:00, and at the NE end,
there were 2 SHORT-EARED OWLS that I was able to flush.  No
scissor-tailed flycatcher, though.

We then went to Park Point, where there was a single
nonbreeding HORNED GREBE.

It was then off to Hawk Ridge, where there were large
kettles of RED-TAILED HAWKS, some SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS, and a
single adult NORTHERN GOSHAWK.  The fall colors were really
nice, too.

We returned to 40th Ave, but again, we could not find the
flycatcher.

Off to the Sax-Zim Bog, where we failed to find the
previously reported northern hawk-owl.

We then decided to come back to 40th Ave and give it one
more try.  I was sure glad we did!  The SCISSOR-TAILED
FLYCATCHER was very cooperative and allowed me to get really
close and get some great views (and photos) of it.  A very
memorable experience!

We used up a lot of gas, but in my mind, it certainly was
worth it!

Good luck everyone
Keith Pulles, Wright County