You just never know. We’re in Bemidji, Minnesota, having a visit with the motorhomers next to us and it turns out there is a connection to our past. As we were growing up in Southern California, listening to tunes like the Bristol Stomp, our now-neighbor Mark, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was busy singing it. Remember the Bristol Stomp? He’s still singing it. http://www.thedovells.com/index.html You just never know.
Bemidji KOA
Enjoying it here. Comfortable summer weather. Full hookups. Good cellphone and internet from Verizon. Nice people. Interesting places to explore.
The morning view.
Advanced birding
As experienced birders, we pride ourselves on being able to identify birds from any of a number of different characteristics. It might be plumage, location, silhouette, voice. A single call note. A flash of color. A single feather.
Here, our crowning achievement….
Canada Goose
Tuesday
On this day, today, August 3rd, 2010, absolutely nothing happened in Bemidji, Minnesota. Not as far as I know anyway. Sat at my desk. Worked. Judy did some errands. Saw a few birds out the window. Ran a mile at midday. Walked back. Saw a Vesper Sparrow. Talked with a potential client in San Antonio, New Mexico. Friends of Bosque del Apache NWR. Bosque del Apache NWR is a place Judy and I love. They have quail running about. It would be fun if we got that job. Saw a Downy Woodpecker out the window. Ordered out pizza for dinner. Watching for the Northern Lights. Nothing.
July
July was a good month for birds. Traveling through Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota, we saw Trumpeter Swans, Wood Ducks, Brown Creepers, Golden Crowned Kinglets, Golden Winged Warblers, and a Bobolink. Good variety. Here is the whole list:
| Canada Goose |
| Trumpeter Swan |
| Wood Duck |
| Mallard |
| Common Goldeneye |
| Common Merganser |
| Common Loon |
| Pied-billed Grebe |
| Western Grebe |
| American White Pelican |
| Double-crested Cormorant |
| Great Blue Heron |
| Great Egret |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron |
| Turkey Vulture |
| Osprey |
| Bald Eagle |
| Northern Harrier |
| Broad-winged Hawk |
| Swainson’s Hawk |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
| Ferruginous Hawk |
| American Kestrel |
| Killdeer |
| Spotted Sandpiper |
| Ring-billed Gull |
| Black Tern |
| Rock Pigeon |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove |
| Mourning Dove |
| Great Horned Owl |
| Common Nighthawk |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
| Broad-tailed Hummingbird |
| Rufous Hummingbird |
| Belted Kingfisher |
| Red-headed Woodpecker |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
| Downy Woodpecker |
| Hairy Woodpecker |
| Northern Flicker |
| Western Wood-Pewee |
| Eastern Phoebe |
| Western Kingbird |
| Eastern Kingbird |
| Warbling Vireo |
| Red-eyed Vireo |
| Blue Jay |
| Black-billed Magpie |
| American Crow |
| Common Raven |
| Horned Lark |
| Purple Martin |
| Tree Swallow |
| Violet-green Swallow |
| Cliff Swallow |
| Barn Swallow |
| Black-capped Chickadee |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| White-breasted Nuthatch |
| Brown Creeper |
| Rock Wren |
| House Wren |
| Marsh Wren |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| Eastern Bluebird |
| Mountain Bluebird |
| American Robin |
| Gray Catbird |
| Brown Thrasher |
| European Starling |
| Cedar Waxwing |
| Golden-winged Warbler |
| Nashville Warbler |
| Yellow Warbler |
| Chestnut-sided Warbler |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Black-and-white Warbler |
| American Redstart |
| Common Yellowthroat |
| Spotted Towhee |
| Chipping Sparrow |
| Clay-colored Sparrow |
| Vesper Sparrow |
| Lark Sparrow |
| Savannah Sparrow |
| Song Sparrow |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow |
| White-crowned Sparrow |
| Dark-eyed Junco |
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
| Black-headed Grosbeak |
| Lazuli Bunting |
| Bobolink |
| Red-winged Blackbird |
| Western Meadowlark |
| Yellow-headed Blackbird |
| Common Grackle |
| Brown-headed Cowbird |
| Orchard Oriole |
| Bullock’s Oriole |
| House Finch |
| Pine Siskin |
| American Goldfinch |
| House Sparrow |
And to start off August, on Sunday, we got a lifer. A White Winged Scoter on Bemidji Lake! Now we have all three North American Scoters. Lucky us!