[mou] Bloopers

[Laura Erickson]

When we took a family vacation in the Badlands of South Dakota, I brought
everyone to a prairie dog town.  My husband and kids were, of course,
charmed with the prairie dogs, but I had an ulterior motive.  Scanning
carefully, voila!  There it was, a Burrowing Owl perched on the edge of
one of the burrows.  I pointed it out to Russ and the kids, and though
they all saw it, it didn't look like much from that distance.  Since it
was perched right next to a hole, I figured it would drop down if it got
stressed, so we hiked closer.  And closer.  It was shockingly tame!  It
stood there, sleepy-eyed, not moving a muscle.  And we drew even closer,
and closer, and closer.  And suddenly I realized it was no Burrowing Owl
after all.  It was a buffalo pie.

Laura Erickson
Duluth, MN

Staff Ornithologist
Binoculars.com
www.birderblog.com

There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. 
There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of
nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the
winter.

			--Rachel Carson


> Sometimes ID'ing a bit early leads to interesting bloopers:
>
> This morning Mark Junghans and I were birding the Prairie Wildlife Drive
> portion of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge near Princeton, MN.  As we
> sighted the final pool,  I remarked about the commotion in the water:
> "There's the loon family we missed earlier."
>
> Would have been a great call, except as we drew much nearer, the loons
> morphed into otters.
>
> Sigh.
>
> Must admit I've never completed missed on the type of mammal before.
>
> How about the rest of you - ever humorously call too early or miss one?
>
> Humbly submitted,
>
> Al Schirmacher
> Princeton, MN
> Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties
>
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