[mou] Re: thinking about Cave Swallows

[Jesse Ellis]

Chad's comment is a great one.  After last fall's incredible fallout 
along the south shore of Lake Ontario (some birders reported large 
flocks of Cave Swallows), and greater observer awareness of these 
birds, I hope people will look.  The birds tend to congregate on the 
south shores of large bodies of water, or migrate past migrant traps 
like Cape May.  I think your best bet in Minnesota would be ...  you 
guessed it... in Duluth.  You might have the chance of seeing birds 
coming in from Wisconsin along the lake, or birds blown further north 
and moving south along the North Shore.  Park Point seems decent in 
my mind - look for other swallows and check.  Depending on where they 
blow, Mille Lacs or other large lakes could be good spots to check 
too.  My lifer came a few minutes from my house in Ithaca, New York 
(I'm transplanted, originallys from the Cities) a few years ago when 
6 birds showed up at the south end of Cayuga Lake, which is 40 miles 
long north-south.

Glad to see that MN birders are thinking about this.  Cave Swallow 
seems high on the list for next state records.

Hm.  Wonder what other birds people think might turn up first?

Jesse Ellis
Seattle, WA

>Reading Chad's comment about the Barn Swallows
>makes me think it's about the time of year
>when we should be out looking for
>a first state record Cave Swallow.
>
>Chris Benson
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Chad Heins" <odunamis@yahoo.com>
>To: "MOU" <mou-net@cbs.umn.edu>
>Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2006 1:54 PM
>Subject: [mou] Pomarine not found
>
>
>Hey birders!
>
>Ben Inniger and I looked for the Pomarine Jaeger this morning around 8am.
>No such bird was found.  We were there only 15 minutes or so, but two other
>birders had been scanning for awhile already and had the same result.  We
>did see a couple of Wilson's Snipe and a variety of sparrows and blackbirds.
>
>We also visited Cobb River WPA in southeastern Blue Earth County and found
>some other shorebirds: Greater Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Wilson's Snipe,
>Pectoral Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Sandpiper.  A flock of 6 very subdued
>Barn Swallows was also there hawking insects over the water.
>
>Happy birding!
>
>Chad Heins
>Mankato, MN
>
>
>
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-- 
Jesse Ellis, Ph. D. candidate
Neurobiology and Behavior
jme29@cornell.edu
111 Mudd Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, 14853

"Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich, and 
you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: 
take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs. And take 
them down."

Herman Blume, in "Rushmore"