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Family Stories
A potpourri of stories about various family members or events, written by others and edited by me.
Wildlife notes
[These are some notes that my dad, Ed Hibbard wrote in preparation for an article. It is clear that he was quickly typing up a rough, draft version of notes for a future article. I have corrected spelling typos but not changed the grammar or format of what was typed.]
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...Also sandhill crane and passenger pigeon???
Additional comments on the prairie chicken in central Minn.
This past winter while making notes (with my father) on the history of the bobwhite in Haven township, Sherburne County (see note in this issue), we also pooled our info on the prairie chicken. Dr. Partch has made an excellent summary of the recent history of this species in this area (Loon, - , 1970) and I can but add soem earlier notes of my father's covering the years (1910 to date and information I can recall of observations from 1932 to 1950. My father, J.E. Hibbard states (in lit. Feb. 9, 1970) that he recalls shooting four the first day of the season in 1910... " As late as 1922
Point that might be mentioned here is the fact that even after the local breeding populations were largely gone (19?) there always were each fall a flock or two that appeared in late fall or early winter, presumably from "further north" (possibly the Morrison County populations?) J.E. Hibbard states that
(bird shot about 1932 on present airport site) My first recollection of these flocks is that we occas. saw them especially while hauling manure with the team and sled. They used to gather around the corn shocks. In my "Bird notebook" begun in 1943 after an Ornithology course by the late Geo. Friedrichs I find the notation that this bird was not uncommonly found on the "Reformatory meadows" (mentioned by Partch) from the years 1939 thru 1943. They were seen there each year in those years, and one was taken from a flock of approx. 40 birds in the in the corn stubble. Fall of 1941. I have records of 3 birds seen on Nov. 15, 1943, the last birds seen on our farm proper, was a lone bird seen in Nov. of 1947. I saw one other lone bird approx. one mile south of the farm in Nov. of the following year. No other birds were seen in this locality.
Published 2025-09-15.
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N/Alisting of family stories by Ed Hibbard Army letter: Dad to Sylvia #2