[mou] Long-tailed Jaeger on Lake of the Woods

[Eckert K R]

That adult Long-tailed Jaeger, which now appears to have departed the 
area just outside of Agassiz NWR sometime on Sept 2, may have relocated 
to Lake of the Woods. About 10:30 am yesterday, Sept 3, an adult 
Long-tailed was seen briefly as it flew over Springsteel Island just N 
of Warroad.

The bird was first noticed by Diana Rankin, one of those in my Minn 
Birding Weekends group, who wondered what it was and called it to my 
attention. It flew in from the south, passed overhead, and was quickly 
lost from sight behind trees as it continued north, possibly turning 
and heading west. I alerted the rest of the group, but no one was able 
to spot it again, primarily because we were looking for warblers at the 
time in a wooded area with limited visibility of the lake or overhead.

Although I am certain of the identification, this unfortunately was not 
an entirely definitive sighting. Only a few of us were able to see it 
very briefly, and I was only able to determine that it was a small and 
thin-looking adult jaeger with distinctively very long and pointed 
central rectrices. Given the angle of the jaeger as it rapidly 
disappeared behind the trees and the overcast light conditions, no 
other field marks were visible. - Kim Eckert