Then and Now – Rare Bird Sightings from the pages of Ken Hoffman’s Journal
WTIP launched the feature “On this Day in Ken’s Journal” as a way to share Ken Hoffman’s daily observances of birds, plants and other environmental conditions. In the October journals from 1981 and 1982, Ken documents the sighting of three bird species rarely seen in Minnesota; a Black-headed Grosbeak, a Townsend Solitaire and what would have been the first Minnesota sighting of a Wood Stork, had it been officially documented at the time. The first recorded sighting was also in Cook County.
Here is the written account of the first recorded sighting in Minnesota, submitted by Bump Blomberg, to the Minnesota Ornithologist’s Union:
“At 6:00 P.M. on 17 June 2004, I was making dinner when my 3½ year old son, Lynden said, “Papa, there’s a really big bird out there.” I went to look and immediately grabbed an HI-8 cam-corder and started filming. I obtained approximately six minutes and 15 seconds of videotape. The bird sat and preened for about an hour, and also was seen by my wife, Kristin, and sister-in-law, Kathleen Oberholtzer. An account of Lynden’s discovery was published in the 2 July 2004 issue (Volume 114, Number 12) of the Cook County News-Herald. In that account, Lynden is quoted as saying, “He’s in trouble, papa. He’s in danger.” Field guides used included the Stokes guide, the Peterson guide, and the Sibley guide. Ken and Molly Hoffman came over to view the videotape and confirmed the identification.”
On this Day in Ken’s Journal is supported in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
