Date: 10/23/26 1:26 pm From: Steve Weston <sweston2g...> Subject: Re: [mou-net] MOU-NET Digest - 6 Oct 2026 to 22 Oct 2026 (#2026-63)
Hi Bill,
Here are some recommendations that are being used today for sharing
sightings of rare birds:
Discord - You join a Minnesota Rare Bird Alert group and will see what is
being found. This is what the birds who chase are all tuned into.
Birddash.net - This examines what is being reported on eBird that is in
your area. There are lots of ways to set this so you can see what is
happening in your area, such as what area and birds you are interested in.
Steve Weston
On Quigley Lake in Eagan, MN
<sweston2g...>
On Fri, Oct 23, 2026 at 1:45 PM Steve Weston <sweston2g...> wrote:
> Hi Bill,
> I signed up with MOUnet some 25+ years ago. The technology has passed the
> listservs by. The youngsters that are getting involved in birding are not
> using the listservs. I will get back to you with what they are using these
> days.
>
> Steve Weston
> On Quigley Lake in Eagan, MN
> <sweston2g...>
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 23, 2026 at 11:58 AM Bill Edmonds <bill1014...>
> wrote:
>
>> I joined this list in the summer, hoping to see where to visit and see
>> unique birds near Lake Kabetogama. It was useless. It had no
>> information, no postings, unlike other listservs in the birding world.
>> Very disappointing.
>>
>> ----
>> General information and guidelines for posting:
>> https://moumn.org/listservice.html >> Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html >>
>
On Fri, Oct 23, 2026 at 11:59 AM Bill Edmonds <bill1014...>
wrote:
> I joined this list in the summer, hoping to see where to visit and see
> unique birds near Lake Kabetogama. It was useless. It had no
> information, no postings, unlike other listservs in the birding world.
> Very disappointing.
>
> ----
> General information and guidelines for posting:
> https://moumn.org/listservice.html > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html >
Date: 10/23/26 9:58 am From: Bill Edmonds <bill1014...> Subject: Re: [mou-net] MOU-NET Digest - 6 Oct 2026 to 22 Oct 2026 (#2026-63)
I joined this list in the summer, hoping to see where to visit and see unique birds near Lake Kabetogama. It was useless. It had no information, no postings, unlike other listservs in the birding world. Very disappointing.
Date: 10/23/26 9:32 am From: Steve Wilson <clevergrayjay...> Subject: Re: [mou-net] MOU-NET Digest - 6 Oct 2026 to 22 Oct 2026 (#2026-63)
Paul,
At one time county lists were derived from a birder's own records. On the current website they seem to be based on only those records reported to MOU. This results in some of our county lists showing far fewer species than actually seen in a county because I - and I'm sure many other birders - don't bother to report all species seen to the MOU database, especially common species. Have the higher totals from our personal lists been expunged in favor or the tally derived from the MOU database, or are those numbers still lurking on the reconfigured site?
Steve Wilson
-----Original Message-----
From: Minnesota Birds <MOU-NET...> On Behalf Of MOU-NET automatic digest system
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2026 12:00 AM
To: <MOU-NET...>
Subject: MOU-NET Digest - 6 Oct 2026 to 22 Oct 2026 (#2026-63)
There are 2 messages totaling 162 lines in this issue.
Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2026 16:58:37 -0400
From: Paul Budde <buddep...>
Subject: MOU Website news
A few updates....
The American Ornithological Society finally published the 67th Supplement to its checklist on 10/20. This will eventually result in changes of names that we use on our website once they update all of their files. Changes you will see include the new names Hudsonian Whimbrel (currently Whimbrel), American Egret (Great Egret), and Eastern Marsh-Wren (Marsh Wren). While there was talk of renaming the Yellow Warbler as Northern Yellow Warbler, that did not happen. There are also some changes to a few scientific names and some taxonomic re-ordering. It may be winter before these updates appear, depending on how fast the AOS can release the full checklist files.
Speaking of winter, it's now cold enough that the link to the Minnesota Christmas Bird Count home page is listed under our Quick Links. Steve Weston and I have been discussing a few tweaks to make these pages easier for participants to use. The big change we envision is a facility for circle compilers to create a list of birds and counts for their circle by uploading one or more ebird checklists. This will work well for circles in which each sector produces a complete checklist. Whether or not to use this feature is up to each compiler to decide.
Anthony Hertzel has written a history of the early bird clubs that led to the formation of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. It's complete with photographs of significant leaders of these clubs and club logos. You'll find it on the website under MOU, Administration, and Contacts > History of the MOU > Early History of the MOU.
We've also been making a number of small edits to the website to improve user experience. Perhaps the most notable change of this type is the map of Minnesota counties colored by a user's species total for each county. You can see it at My MOU Account > My Checklists > By County. Look at the bottom of this page. We've changed the color gradient used and defaulted to seven ranges of counts (50 each). More importantly, we've also given you the capability to change those ranges. Click on "Create Individual Ranges"
to play with it. You can always delete what you've created, change it, or just go back to the default ranges.
Finally, this morning around 12:16 - 12:18 AM CDT our website was inundated by a lot of automated activity. This resulted in some users being unable to make server connections to complete tasks on the website as we hit the maximum number of connections we could have. I went online with our hosting provider to discuss the problem, and was informed that they were doing a very large security update today. I don't know that that had anything to do with our issue, but it might have. These things happen occasionally, though it's been a few months since the last episode. These episodes usually don't last very long, so if you ever experience this sort of trouble, it's probably best to go get a cup of coffee or tea and come back to the website in a few minutes.
Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:16:06 -0400
From: Paul Budde <buddep...>
Subject: Re: MOU Website news
And how could I forget the Willet split. Minnesota's species is now known as the Prairie Willet.
Paul
*Paul Budde*
*<buddep...> <buddep...>*
On Thu, Oct 22, 2026 at 4:58 PM Paul Budde <buddep...> wrote:
> A few updates....
>
> The American Ornithological Society finally published the 67th
> Supplement to its checklist on 10/20. This will eventually result in
> changes of names that we use on our website once they update all of
> their files. Changes you will see include the new names Hudsonian
> Whimbrel (currently Whimbrel), American Egret (Great Egret), and
> Eastern Marsh-Wren (Marsh Wren). While there was talk of renaming the
> Yellow Warbler as Northern Yellow Warbler, that did not happen. There
> are also some changes to a few scientific names and some taxonomic
> re-ordering. It may be winter before these updates appear, depending on how fast the AOS can release the full checklist files.
>
> Speaking of winter, it's now cold enough that the link to the
> Minnesota Christmas Bird Count home page is listed under our Quick
> Links. Steve Weston and I have been discussing a few tweaks to make
> these pages easier for participants to use. The big change we envision
> is a facility for circle compilers to create a list of birds and
> counts for their circle by uploading one or more ebird checklists.
> This will work well for circles in which each sector produces a
> complete checklist. Whether or not to use this feature is up to each compiler to decide.
>
> Anthony Hertzel has written a history of the early bird clubs that led
> to the formation of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. It's complete
> with photographs of significant leaders of these clubs and club logos.
> You'll find it on the website under MOU, Administration, and Contacts
> > History of the MOU > Early History of the MOU.
>
> We've also been making a number of small edits to the website to
> improve user experience. Perhaps the most notable change of this type
> is the map of Minnesota counties colored by a user's species total for
> each county. You can see it at My MOU Account > My Checklists > By
> County. Look at the bottom of this page. We've changed the color
> gradient used and defaulted to seven ranges of counts (50 each). More
> importantly, we've also given you the capability to change those ranges. Click on "Create Individual Ranges"
> to play with it. You can always delete what you've created, change it,
> or just go back to the default ranges.
>
> Finally, this morning around 12:16 - 12:18 AM CDT our website was
> inundated by a lot of automated activity. This resulted in some users
> being unable to make server connections to complete tasks on the
> website as we hit the maximum number of connections we could have. I
> went online with our hosting provider to discuss the problem, and was
> informed that they were doing a very large security update today. I
> don't know that that had anything to do with our issue, but it might
> have. These things happen occasionally, though it's been a few months
> since the last episode. These episodes usually don't last very long,
> so if you ever experience this sort of trouble, it's probably best to
> go get a cup of coffee or tea and come back to the website in a few minutes.
>
> Paul
>
> *Paul Budde*
> *MOU Seasonal Reports Editor and Website Administrator*
> *<buddep...> <buddep...>*
>
And how could I forget the Willet split. Minnesota's species is now known
as the Prairie Willet.
Paul
*Paul Budde*
*<buddep...> <buddep...>*
On Thu, Oct 22, 2026 at 4:58 PM Paul Budde <buddep...> wrote:
> A few updates....
>
> The American Ornithological Society finally published the 67th Supplement
> to its checklist on 10/20. This will eventually result in changes of names
> that we use on our website once they update all of their files. Changes you
> will see include the new names Hudsonian Whimbrel (currently Whimbrel),
> American Egret (Great Egret), and Eastern Marsh-Wren (Marsh Wren). While
> there was talk of renaming the Yellow Warbler as Northern Yellow Warbler,
> that did not happen. There are also some changes to a few scientific names
> and some taxonomic re-ordering. It may be winter before these updates
> appear, depending on how fast the AOS can release the full checklist files.
>
> Speaking of winter, it's now cold enough that the link to the Minnesota
> Christmas Bird Count home page is listed under our Quick Links. Steve
> Weston and I have been discussing a few tweaks to make these pages easier
> for participants to use. The big change we envision is a facility for
> circle compilers to create a list of birds and counts for their circle by
> uploading one or more ebird checklists. This will work well for circles in
> which each sector produces a complete checklist. Whether or not to use this
> feature is up to each compiler to decide.
>
> Anthony Hertzel has written a history of the early bird clubs that led to
> the formation of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. It's complete with
> photographs of significant leaders of these clubs and club logos. You'll
> find it on the website under MOU, Administration, and Contacts > History of
> the MOU > Early History of the MOU.
>
> We've also been making a number of small edits to the website to improve
> user experience. Perhaps the most notable change of this type is the map of
> Minnesota counties colored by a user's species total for each county. You
> can see it at My MOU Account > My Checklists > By County. Look at the
> bottom of this page. We've changed the color gradient used and defaulted to
> seven ranges of counts (50 each). More importantly, we've also given you
> the capability to change those ranges. Click on "Create Individual Ranges"
> to play with it. You can always delete what you've created, change it, or
> just go back to the default ranges.
>
> Finally, this morning around 12:16 - 12:18 AM CDT our website was
> inundated by a lot of automated activity. This resulted in some users being
> unable to make server connections to complete tasks on the website as we
> hit the maximum number of connections we could have. I went online with our
> hosting provider to discuss the problem, and was informed that they were
> doing a very large security update today. I don't know that that had
> anything to do with our issue, but it might have. These things happen
> occasionally, though it's been a few months since the last episode. These
> episodes usually don't last very long, so if you ever experience this sort
> of trouble, it's probably best to go get a cup of coffee or tea and come
> back to the website in a few minutes.
>
> Paul
>
> *Paul Budde*
> *MOU Seasonal Reports Editor and Website Administrator*
> *<buddep...> <buddep...>*
>
The American Ornithological Society finally published the 67th Supplement to its checklist on 10/20. This will eventually result in changes of names that we use on our website once they update all of their files. Changes you will see include the new names Hudsonian Whimbrel (currently Whimbrel), American Egret (Great Egret), and Eastern Marsh-Wren (Marsh Wren). While there was talk of renaming the Yellow Warbler as Northern Yellow Warbler, that did not happen. There are also some changes to a few scientific names and some taxonomic re-ordering. It may be winter before these updates appear, depending on how fast the AOS can release the full checklist files.
Speaking of winter, it's now cold enough that the link to the Minnesota Christmas Bird Count home page is listed under our Quick Links. Steve Weston and I have been discussing a few tweaks to make these pages easier for participants to use. The big change we envision is a facility for circle compilers to create a list of birds and counts for their circle by uploading one or more ebird checklists. This will work well for circles in which each sector produces a complete checklist. Whether or not to use this feature is up to each compiler to decide.
Anthony Hertzel has written a history of the early bird clubs that led to the formation of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. It's complete with photographs of significant leaders of these clubs and club logos. You'll find it on the website under MOU, Administration, and Contacts > History of the MOU > Early History of the MOU.
We've also been making a number of small edits to the website to improve user experience. Perhaps the most notable change of this type is the map of Minnesota counties colored by a user's species total for each county. You can see it at My MOU Account > My Checklists > By County. Look at the bottom of this page. We've changed the color gradient used and defaulted to seven ranges of counts (50 each). More importantly, we've also given you the capability to change those ranges. Click on "Create Individual Ranges" to play with it. You can always delete what you've created, change it, or just go back to the default ranges.
Finally, this morning around 12:16 - 12:18 AM CDT our website was inundated by a lot of automated activity. This resulted in some users being unable to make server connections to complete tasks on the website as we hit the maximum number of connections we could have. I went online with our hosting provider to discuss the problem, and was informed that they were doing a very large security update today. I don't know that that had anything to do with our issue, but it might have. These things happen occasionally, though it's been a few months since the last episode. These episodes usually don't last very long, so if you ever experience this sort of trouble, it's probably best to go get a cup of coffee or tea and come back to the website in a few minutes.
Date: 10/6/26 5:12 pm From: cmdahle <cmdahle...> Subject: Re: [mou-net] Field Trip October 25: Sea Ducks with Ben Douglas
my email is now <claramdahle...>
On 2026-10-06 09:43, Matt Hoberg wrote:
> *October 25: 8:15AM* > Join Ben Douglas for a trip focused on late fall waterfowl migrants in > the > northeast metro area. This is prime time for sea ducks, including all > three > scoters and Long-tailed Duck, and other migrating waterfowl species > should > be seen as well. The trip will start at Big Marine Park in Washington > County and caravan to several lakes in nearby counties during the day > depending on conditions and recent sightings. > For more information and registration (required), visit the > registration > page > <https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F48A9AC2FA5FFCE9-65104216-seaducks#/>. > > ---- > General information and guidelines for posting: > https://moumn.org/listservice.html > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
Date: 10/6/26 7:45 am From: Matt Hoberg <mhoberg1...> Subject: [mou-net] Field Trip October 25: Sea Ducks with Ben Douglas
*October 25: 8:15AM* Join Ben Douglas for a trip focused on late fall waterfowl migrants in the northeast metro area. This is prime time for sea ducks, including all three scoters and Long-tailed Duck, and other migrating waterfowl species should be seen as well. The trip will start at Big Marine Park in Washington County and caravan to several lakes in nearby counties during the day depending on conditions and recent sightings. For more information and registration (required), visit the registration page <https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F48A9AC2FA5FFCE9-65104216-seaducks#/>.
Date: 10/2/26 12:48 pm From: Matt Hoberg <mhoberg1...> Subject: [mou-net] Field Trip October 24: Spring Lake Park
*October 24: 8 AM*Andy Forbes will lead a bird walk at Spring Lake in Scott County. In the late fall, this location is often very productive for migrating waterfowl (including a chance for scoters and Long-tailed Duck) along with gulls, sparrows and other migrating/wintering birds.
Date: 9/29/26 7:25 am From: L H <harp0055...> Subject: [mou-net] Seeking Nominations for the 2026 MOU Annual Awards - due October 15th
Seeking Nominations for the 2026 MOU Annual Awards and Certificates of Appreciation
The Minnesota Ornithologists' Union’s Awards Committee is seeking nominations for MOU’s four annual awards <http://moumn.org/awards.html>to be presented at the MOU Paper Session in December. The awards serve to recognize individuals for their contributions to birds and birding.
To nominate someone for this year’s awards, please writea short description of the contributions which make your nominee* a candidate and submit your summary to the committee chair (<awards...>) by October 15th. Not sure how to write a nomination? Award presentations from 2010 and forward are available on our website <http://moumn.org/awards.html> for you to review, and the Awards and Recognition Committee is available to help as well – just email the chair with any questions you may have.
The MOU awards serve to recognize individuals who have volunteered their time for the good of birds and birders (Volunteer of the Year Award <https://moumn.org/awards_cahlander_99.php>), birders under the age of 25 whose involvementin birding and bird-related organizations stands out (Young Birder Award <https://moumn.org/awards_yb_99.php>), individuals who have had a special achievement in the field ornithology during the past year (Brother Theodore Voelker Award <https://moumn.org/awards_voelker_99.php>), or who have made outstanding contributions to Minnesota ornithology and birding in their lifetime (Thomas S. Roberts Award <https://moumn.org/awards_roberts_99.php>).
*Nominations are due by October 15^th *. If you need an extension or have any questions, please email the Awards Committee Chair Liz Harper at <awards...>
In addition to our annual awards, throughout the year the Committee recognizes individuals or businesses who have had a “rare” bird on their property and provided access to visiting birders (Certificates of Appreciation <https://moumn.org/awards_overview_99.php> ). To nominate someone for a Certificate of Appreciation, please send email the Awards Committee Chair (<awards...>).
The MOU thanks you in advance for your interest and willingness in providing nominations. Without your contributions, we are not able to give recognize the achievements of our fellow birders.
* Nominees do not have to be MOU members, but we do love it when they are able to attend the paper session so they can receive their awards.
