[mou] MOU Field Trips

[Williams, Bob]

We have a growing list of field trips and events for this spring and
summer.  The most imminent is the Salt Lake Weekend.  Hopefully the snow
will be gone and the ice will be out by then.  I am still looking for a
couple more people for the Eagle Bluff Field Trip in June.  Please
contact me as soon as possible if you are interested.  An additional
trip has been added to the list for May 10 in Stearns County.  Here is
the complete list:
 
April 26th-27th - Salt Lake Weekend(Lac Qui Parle and Big Stone
Counties)  Birders will meet for breakfast at 7am on Saturday morning at
the Marietta American Legion located one block west of Co. Rd. 7 on Hwy
40.  They will form into groups and head out from there for the morning.
At noon they will meet back there for lunch and then head back out for
more birding.  Saturday night there is a chicken dinner at 7:30pm at the
Sons of Norway Hall on Hwy 75 in Madison, eleven miles east of Marietta.
Reservations are required for the dinner and can be made with Becky
Skallerud at 320-598-5554 or at beckaberk at yahoo.com.  The cost for the
dinner is $10.  Lodging is available in Madison, Montevideo, Dawson,
Appleton or Canby.  Camping is available at Prairie Marsh Farm, 1770
151st Ave.., Marietta, located 7 miles west of US 75 and 1.5 miles south
of US 212.  Contact Ken Larson at prairiemarshfarm at comcast.net for more
information.  This event is open to the public.  
 
May 3rd - St. Cloud Area(Stearns, Sherburne & Benton Counties) Birders
will meet for breakfast 6:30-7:30am at the Clearwater Travel Plaza on
Hwy 24 1 block north of I-94.  Meet at the back, south-facing windows of
the restaurant.  Locations will include Warner Nature Preserve,
Riverside Park, Beaver Island Bike Trail, Sauk river floodplain at the
Boy Scout Bridge, Quarry Park($4 per car for day use) and more.  There
will be some hiking. Contact Milt Blomberg at 320-656-5272 or
mjbflwrmt at msn.com.  This event is free and open to the public.
 
May 4th - Crane Meadows NWR(Morrison County)  Birders will meet at 8am
at the Platte River lookout deck, the first trailhead on your left as
you enter on the headquarters road.  Lunch will be provided.  Afternoon
birding groups will cover off-refuge sites including the Schoessling
Unit, Lindbergh State Park, and other sites close to Crane Meadows. To
register, go to www.mcbirding.org <http://www.mcbirding.org/>  or call
the Little Falls Convention and Visitor's Center at 320-616-4959.
Accommodations are being made for those with limited mobility.  This
trip will be lead by Milt Blomberg (mjbflw at msn.com)(320-656-5272) and
Frank Gosiak(fgosiak at holdingford.k12.mn.us).
This event is free and open to the public.
 
May 10th - Wild River State Park(Chisago County)  Birders will meet at
8am at the boat landing in the main park(There is an entrance fee for
the state park if you don't have an annual pass).  Birders will hike the
area until noon.  Bring a picnic lunch and eat on the elevated picnic
deck.  The focus will be on songbirds and particularly warblers. Contact
Joe Sausen at jcsausen at earthlink.net.  This event is free and open to
the public.
 
May 17th - Avon Hills Area(Stearns County)  Birders will meet for coffee
7-7:30am at the Village Bean Coffee Shop(Take Co. Rd. 9 at the Avon exit
off I-94 and go north 4 blocks.  The coffee shop is on your right 1
block before the Lake Wobegon Bike Trail Pavillion).  Birders will visit
the St. John's-Collegeville Arboretum, Watab Lake region, Spunk Lakes
and Tower Road SNA and possibly portions of Lake Wobegon Trail, Pelican
Lake, Two-River Lake and the Albany Sewage Ponds.  Contact Milt Blomberg
at 320-656-5272 or mjbflwrmt at msn.com.  This event is free and open to
the public.
 
May 10th - St. John's University(Stearns County)  Birders will meet in
Room 269 in the Peter Engel Science Center at 5:30am or 8:00am and bird
until 1:00pm.  There will be a number of guides so that birders can go
in smaller groups.  All birding will be done on foot and on the St.
John's University grounds.  There is a cost of $12 for St. John's
Arboretum members and $16 for non-members but that includes breakfast
and lunch.  Pre-registration is required so call 320-363-3163 or e-mail
arboretum at csbsju.edu.  This event is open to the public.    
 
May 17th - Sherburne NWR(Sherburne County)  Birders will meet at 7am and
bird until noon with an optional afternoon trip.  This trip is currently
full, but there is a waiting list.
Contact Al Schirmacher at pastoral at princetonfreechurch.net for more
information.  This even is free and open to the public.
 
June 6th-7th - Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center(Fillmore
County)  Birders will arrive at the learning center on Friday in time
for dinner.  Birders will then do some night birding for owls and
Whip-poor-wills.  On Saturday birders will hike the trails on site with
the staff naturalist.  There is a fee of $70 per person for this trip
which covers lodging on Friday night and 3 meals.  We currently have 13
registered for this trip and are taking registration for a couple more.
Contact Bob Williams at bxwilliams at cbburnet.com or 612-728-2232 to
register or get more information. This event is open to the public.
 
June 21st - Aitkin County  Birders will meet at 7am and bird until noon
with an optional afternoon trip.  The focus will be on the areas north
and east of the town of Aitkin and Rice Lake NWR.  This trip is
currently full, but there is a waiting list.  Contact Al Schirmacher at
pastoral at princetonfreechurch.net for more information.  This event is
free and open to the public.
 
August 1st-3rd - Shorebird Workshop  The previously mentioned workshop
on August 8th-10th is currently full.  For more information on these
special workshops please go to www.itctel.com/buri/SHOREBIRD 
 
These field trips are in addition to Kim Eckert's Minnesota Birding
Weekends.  Information about those trips(including the registration
procedure and a form) can be found on the MOU website
(http://moumn.org/trips.html), on Bob Ekblad's website
(http://www.birding-minnesota.com/MN-MBW.htm), and in MOU's newsletter,
Minnesota Birding.  Kim Eckert can be reached at eckertkr at gmail.com or
at 218-525-6930. 
 
If anyone would like to lead a field trip, please contact me at
bxwilliams at cbburnet.com or at 612-728-2232.
 
Bob Williams, MOU Field Trip Coordinator
 
 
 
 
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