Date: 1/14/25 8:39 am From: linda whyte <0000004e7b0e779a-dmarc-request...> Subject: Re: [mou-net] Announcement: On Ending the Salt Lake Birding Event
There are many of us who, while sad to see an end to the Salt Lake Birding
Weekend, certainly understand the reasons for your decision, and probably
concur with its advisability.
There are also many of us who have benefited from the event multiple times,
and enjoyed it immensely. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to you, to Ken
Larson and MaryLou, to all the trip leaders, and to the community members
who supported our presence there.
Because of all of you, we were introduced to habitat we might not have
explored, and birds we might not have experienced on our own. As "metro"
residents, some of us learned to appreciate more of life in "outstate"
Minnesota and feel more connected to citizens there. Many will return to
bird there, and there are certainly new and rapid avenues of communication
to support those endeavors. But none have been more valuable or appreciated
than your ongoing posts about local conditions and sightings, even with
other, growing demands on your time.
Thank you, for all you've done over the years.
Linda Whyte
On Sun, Jan 12, 2025 at 12:37 PM Jason Frank <jmfrank84...> wrote:
> Dear Birders,
>
>
>
> I have decided to retire the Salt Lake Birding Weekend.
>
>
>
> There are three main reasons for this, and one of them is time. My work
> schedule is more demanding these days, as I now manage two libraries, and
> don’t have the time to commit to location scouting in advance of the count
> weekend.
>
>
>
> Climate trends in this region have been swinging wildly between droughts
> and floods, with spring months tending to favor heavy precipitation. Many
> pothole wetlands once considered prime shorebird sites are now hitting
> their annual high-water marks during the peak of spring migration.
> Seasonally flooded grainfields, hayfields, and pastures will erratically
> appear and provide brief habitat for big flocks of shorebirds, but in most
> cases, farmers will respond by installing drainage lines beneath those
> fields, usually within the year.
>
>
>
> This has made it increasingly challenging, year after year, to locate
> multiple tracts of shorebird habitat on public land, with decent viewing
> and accessibility for 150 birders, across an entire county, for a
> dawn-to-dusk expedition.
>
>
>
> Last year, roughly 150 birders assembled into caravans led by 4 guides,
> with at least 20 vehicles per caravan. I haven’t had any luck recruiting
> new guides, and a majority of last year’s guides were not comfortable with
> such large, unwieldy, and unsafe caravans. With the number of people who
> attended last year, we would’ve needed a dozen guides to divide the group
> into safe, effective, and manageable caravans.
>
>
>
> I will still share an email here, on MOU-net, during the third week in
> April, with insights on water levels, weather conditions, hotspots,
> potential wetland drawdowns on public lands, and notable species being seen
> in the area. I’ve also written a guide to exploring the Salt Lake/Upper
> Minnesota River Valley region, which can be found at the link below:
>
>
>
> https://moumn.org/saltlake/ >
>
>
> Lodging information and boundaries for public lands are current as of
> January 2025.
>
>
> Thank you to everyone who has participated and helped out with the Salt
> Lake Birding Weekend in the 25 years since I first tagged along with a
> walkie-talkie and a worn-out Golden Guide. And thank you as well to
> Michelle Terrell, for creating and maintaining the interactive map, which
> has had 23,000 views so far. I hope that this will serve as a basis for
> individual birders to continue to explore and discover what this little
> corner of the state has to offer.
>
>
> Fare thee well and Good Birding,
>
>
> *Jason Frank*
>
> *Big Stone County Librarian*
>
> *Ortonville and Graceville, Minnesota*
>
> ----
> General information and guidelines for posting:
> https://moumn.org/listservice.html > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html >
