[mou] Aitkin County - 3/3/17-3/20
Ron Green
rongreen@charter.net
Sun, 20 Mar 2005 16:41:18 -0600
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
------=_NextPart_000_0276_01C52D6B.A3E76A50
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
I took many images and when I finish processing them I will post them to =
my web site and let everyone know. We left this morning after some time =
on 420th (about a mile west out of McGregor south of 210).
Summary:
This was our 4th trip to the Aitkin County area. On the way up, we =
stopped at John's in Forest Lake and took some shots of the Saw Whet. =
What a change from focusing so much on the GG's and NHO's! Anyway, with =
regards to aitkin County, things have definitely changed. We took our =
normal routes which include 27 from Moose Lake, 65, 210, CR4, CR5, CR53, =
420th, 185th around McGregor, and CR1 and CR22 north of Aitkin and saw =
significantly less GGO's than our prior visit. Before, it seemed we =
wouldn't have to travel far and we would run into a number of them, and =
they were also hunting throughout the day. Now, the ones we had see =
were:
1) Sitting further back in trees.
2) Hunting mainly in early morning and dusk and perching with little =
flying.
3) Exhibiting from what I have been told is courting behaviors.
4) Fighting over food, territory, or...?
5) Much less tolerant of people. Some still will allow you to be near =
them if you are very quiet. However, we noticed it, as well a numbe of =
people we met remarked how skittish they seemed. We even had a few on =
185th fly as were driving by slowly and then return to where they were =
roosting when we were down the road.
6) Several locals we talked to said they have seem the number drop down =
quite a bit and those that they do see are hanging around deeper off the =
roads and in the forests. One farmer said he had 4-5 regulars and they =
just one day disappeared and haven't been back since. However, one local =
did say she and her daughter drove around almost everyday and they still =
see "quite a few".
In summary, I am not sure if the GGO population has actually decreased =
in Aitkin County or not. Some are saying they are heading back north and =
others have remarked that they are still there, they have just changed =
their habits and are now deeper into the woods? Whatever the reason, it =
appears there are much less to observe than what was visible two weeks =
ago, and the ones that are there show a definite change in activity =
level and tolerance to people.
Ron Green
http://www.greensphotoimages.com/gallery
------=_NextPart_000_0276_01C52D6B.A3E76A50
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1476" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I took many images and when I finish =
processing=20
them I will post them to my web site and let everyone know. We left this =
morning after some time on 420th (about a mile west out of McGregor =
south=20
of 210).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Summary:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>This was our 4th trip to the Aitkin =
County area. On=20
the way up, we stopped at John's in Forest Lake and took some shots of =
the Saw=20
Whet. What a change from focusing so much on the GG's and NHO's! =
Anyway,=20
with regards to aitkin County, things have definitely changed. =
We took=20
our normal routes which include 27 from Moose Lake, 65, 210, CR4, CR5, =
CR53,=20
420th, 185th around McGregor, and CR1 and CR22 north of Aitkin and saw=20
significantly less GGO's than our prior visit. Before, it seemed we =
wouldn't=20
have to travel far and we would run into a number of them, and they were =
also hunting throughout the day. Now, the ones we had see=20
were:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>1) Sitting further back in =
trees.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>2) Hunting mainly in early morning =
and dusk=20
and perching with little flying.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>3) Exhibiting from what I have been =
told=20
is courting behaviors.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>4) Fighting over food, territory,=20
or...?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>5) Much less tolerant of people. Some =
still will=20
allow you to be near them if you are very quiet. However, we =
noticed=20
it, as well a numbe of people we met remarked how skittish they =
seemed. We=20
even had a few on 185th fly as were driving by slowly and then =
return=20
to where they were roosting when we were down the road.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>6) Several locals we talked to said =
they have seem=20
the number drop down quite a bit and those that they do see are hanging =
around=20
deeper off the roads and in the forests. One farmer said he had 4-5 =
regulars and=20
they just one day disappeared and haven't been back since. However, one =
local=20
did say she and her daughter drove around almost everyday and they still =
see=20
"quite a few".</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>In summary, I am not sure if the GGO =
population has=20
actually decreased in Aitkin County or not. Some are saying =
they are=20
heading back north and others have remarked that they are still there, =
they have=20
just changed their habits and are now deeper into the woods? =
Whatever the=20
reason, it appears there are much less to observe than what was visible =
two=20
weeks ago, and the ones that are there show a definite change in =
activity level=20
and tolerance to people.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT><FONT face=3DArial =
size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Ron Green<BR><A=20
href=3D"http://www.greensphotoimages.com/gallery">http://www.greensphotoi=
mages.com/gallery</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
------=_NextPart_000_0276_01C52D6B.A3E76A50--