head-tossing displays of the two male Common Goldeneyes. This head-wagging display is

considered typical of the female Barrow's Goldeneye, and is rarely performed by Commons .

Coincidentally, this sighting occurred three years, to the day , after I discovered a male

Barrow's Goldeneye on Lake Calhoun. Steve Carlson, 2705 Dupont Ave. S., Minneapolis,

MN 55408

HOW TO FIND A CAROLINA WREN- When a certain species hasn't been seen in a

town or county for a number of years, how do you go about finding one? I'm sure every

birder at some time or other has had to cope with this problem . Herewith is a short account

of HOW TO FIND A CAROLINA WREN IN FILLMORE COUNTY. To start with, it is

a good idea to keep in mind the words of Alexander Dumas , which Joe Deden has mounted

at the Forest Resource Center near Lanesboro: " All human wisdom can be summed up in

two words - wait and hope." Secondly, it is a good idea to follow the example of that great

early 20th century Fillmore County observer Dr. Johan Christian Hvoslef, whose method

was to choose a nice level tree stump and sit for two to three hours and observe what there

was to observe. He then recorded his observations in a field notebook which he later recorded

in detail in his daily journal, which he later reported to T.S . Roberts or to Frank Merriam

in Washington. Another thing that helps is to slowly cruise the streets of the town checking

out residential feeding stations. That's what I was doing on January 24, 1987. In Lanesboro,

East Kirkwood Avenue is a good street for feeders ; several had Pine Siskins, Purple Finch

and woodpeckers. House #306 has many feeders; its backyard backs up on the brushy edge

of Sylvan Park . On the west side of the house is a prettily decorated white feeder that was

very popular with the birds. Below it, amidst the inevitable House Sparrows , was something

different. A long tail was swishing amongst them, and in front of the long tail was a bright

buff breast, and a head with a clear white eye-stipe and long beak. No doubt about it, a

Carolina Wren was present in Fillmore County as in days of old when they were known to

nest there. That made the third southeastern county this winter in which this wren was

present; Mower and Olmsted had Carolina Wrens too. When I later made contact with the

residents of #306 , Millie and Laird Adams, I learned that they knew they had a rare bird;

they knew what it was, and what's more, it had been there since at least last Thanksgiving

(over two months before my sighting of it). So it might be helpful in finding rare species

to remember what I learned again that day: I) It pays to check out feeding stations. 2) People

know what they have coming to their feeders. 3) Get to know the people doing the feeding,

if you want to know what they know they have. Anne Marie Plunkett, 2918 S.W. 15th

Ave., Rochester, MN 55902.

A VERY EARLY TURKEY VULTURE

Date: 9 February, 1987

Location; Over Sections 8,9,17 and 16 of Fillmore County (in the vicinity of the Rushford

Municipal Airport)

Reason observation is unusual: Early spring date .

Lighr conditions: Bright, 2:30p.m., high scattered clouds breaking up to clear skies within

the half-hour.

Length of observation: Close overhead, about two minutes ; at a distance, about another

three/four minutes

Habitar: Above the Root River Valley west of Rushford ; above Hwy 30.

Optics used: Leitz Trinovids, 10 x 40 B

Other observers: None that day. John Morrison (Austin, MN) had reported seeing this

species on 7 February, 1987 near Camp Winnebago in Houston County.

Experience with this and similar species: Very familiar with this species as it is a summer

resident in southeastern Minnesota . I am also familiar with the Black Vultures of the southern

U.S., as well as with the immature Bald Eagle which it can approximate in wing span.

Species similar to this bird and how eliminated from consideration: The Black Vulture flies

56 The Loon Vol. 59