the birds seemed to become active again. In

1986, the weather was warmer but the bright

sunny day seemed to keep the birds inactive

and our count was significantly less (50

species). The foggy weather did have one

drawback in that we were unable to find the

Bald Eagles that were seen in the area on the

18th and 20th. The count of Red-tailed and

Rough-legged Hawks was also less than other

years (15 in 1987 compared to 40 in 1986).

One important ingredient needed for a high

count is luck, also beyond the control of the

compiler. For· example: Bob Ekblad needed

to make a quick trip home and , while hurrying

back to Rochester to meet the rest of the

group at noon, a Snowy Owl flew across the

road right in front of him. Later in the after-

noon, Bob and I were in the Mayowood area

and saw the Cooper's Hawk fly in front of

us and across an open field, giving us a good

chance to identify it. Being in the right place

at the right time added two species to the list.

All of these ingredients came together for

the 25th annual Christmas Bird Count for

Rochester. The final report shows a total of

64 species seen on December 19, 1987. A

lot of work went into accomplishing this re-

cord . The weather provided some excellent

conditions . And yes, we had some luck in

finding a few unusual species .

Can this record be broken ? Yes, I think it

can. We missed Bald Eagle , White-throated

Sparrow, Brown Thrasher, and several other

species that have been seen on at least five

other Christmas counts. A Rufous-sided

Towhee was present at the Quarry Hill feeders

until December 17th, but didn't show up on

the 19th. Within the month following the

count, there were sightings of Pied-billed

Grebe, Common Merganser, and Tundra

Swan at Silver Lake . The list of birds seen

for the 1987 Rochester Christmas Bird Count

is devoid of most northern winter birds, an

indication of the mild fall that we had. I think

if everything came together, lots of hard

work, the right weather conditions, and good

luck, it would be possible to see 70 species

on a Christmas Bird Count in the Rochester

CBC circle. Route 1, Box 24, Byron, MN

55920

Proceedings of the Minnesota

Ornithological Records Committee

Kim R. Eckert

Before listing the records voted on through

the end of 1987, it is important to report on

several decisions made at the annual

M.O.R.C. meeting on December 6 which

affected the new official Checklist of Min-

nesota Birds included with this issue of The

Loon:

- Formerly, the status of species was based

on the number of years the species was re-

corded during the past ten years, and a year

was defined as July 1 through June 30 of the

following year. For the sake of simplicity in

researching records, it was decided to change

to a calendar year basis; therefore the new

checklist is based on the ten-year base period

from January I, 1978 through December 31,

1987 .

-The status of several species was changed

from the previous checklist:

Spring 1988

I) Mute Swan, formerly Casual, is now con-

sidered Regular.

2) Red-throated Loon and Sprague's Pipit,

both formerly Regular, are now considered

Casual; also now on the Casual list are these

formerly Accidental species: Ross' Goose,

Mississippi Kite, Snowy Plover, Great Black-

backed Gull, Yellow-throated Warbler, Black-

headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting and House

Finch.

3) Long-billed Curlew, Red Phalarope, Least

Tern and Rosy Finch , all formerly Casual,

are now considered Accidental; also now on

the Accidental list are these species recorded

for the first time since the previous checklist:

Clark's Grebe, Black-bellied Whistling-

Duck, Garganey, Mountain Plover, Common

Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed

Gull, Ross' Gull, Sandwich Tern, White-

13