[mou] Brewster's, Shorebirds, Lesser Black-Backed

[Pastor Al Schirmacher]

Brief walk on Blue Hill Trail, Sherburne NWR yielded a Blue-winged, 
Golden-winged and Brewster's (latter calling) in same trees, hmmm....

Seven shorebird species at Foley ponds on Saturday, nothing unusual.  Little 
shorebird activity at Gilman ponds or along the Mille Lacs lakefront (north 
to Garrison).  Actually, not much discovered shorebird activity in the area 
period.

My apologies for creating confusion about the Lesser Black-backed Gull in 
last Monday's follow up post.  Compared notes with Nathan (my son, the 
photographer) this weekend, we agreed that the LBB was indeed smaller than 
the two juvenile Herrings nearby - and that the bird was in Mille Lacs 
County, not Crow Wing.  Brain cramps.  Multiple.

He & I birded the western edge of Mille Lacs Lake, Onamia to Garrison on 
late Saturday morning, early Saturday afternoon - gulls have dramatically 
increased, but did not find the LBB again.  However, the spot it was 
previously seen at - rock formation on the northern side of Wigwam Bay - was 
packed with gulls 4-5 layers deep, so we certainly could have missed it from 
the busy 169 vantage spot.

Good birding to all.

Al Schirmacher
Princeton, MN
Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties
(in danger of losing my gull license)