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Remembering Bob Ekblad - longtime birder and ZVAS member
From Bob's son Steve Ekblad on behalf of the family:
Robert “Bob” Ekblad passed away on November 27, 2022, at the age of 77. One of his passions was birds and birding.
Bob took up the hobby of birding in 1978, when he moved his family from Rochester out to rural Byron, where he began to take note of all the interesting birds that came to the bird feeders on his wooded property and to his pond. He and his sons, Brian and Steve, began to spend more time discovering the birds of this area and those around his boyhood home in North Dakota, and he started keeping track of the interesting variety of birds he was seeing.
Bob quickly became active in the local Zumbro Valley Audubon Society, including a 5-year stint in editing their newsletter, a term as president, and editor of the ZVAS web site for a long time beginning in 1998. He was also active in the statewide birding organization, the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU). He was president of the MOU for two years, 1992 and 1993. He maintained and provided Minnesota state bird checklists for many years. He also created and has maintained a web site dedicated to birds and birding in Minnesota with special focus to birds and birding in Olmsted County and Southeastern Minnesota. Bob has kept track of the number of species of birds he saw and was able to reach some significant milestones in the ABA area (over 740), Lower 48 (over 700), Minnesota (exactly 400). Many of these species were seen on trips made with his son, Steve, as they traveled all around the United States. Bob bought the "where to go birding" books, and Steve did the research and planned the routes. They went on at least one trip per year from 1988 when Steve was 15 until 1996 when he completed college.
Bob also met Diane Anderson through the common interest in birding and spent a lot of time birding together over the years.
A birding highlight for Bob was taking two trips to Alaska with Victor Emanual Nature Tours (VENT). The first was the Grand Alaska trip with Gambel extension in June 2005 with Kevin Zimmer and David Wolf. That trip included going to Nome, taking a flight from Nome to the Inuit community of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island out in the Bering Sea, 38 miles from Russia, another flight to St. Paul in the Priblof Islands, and driving to Denali National Park and to Seward on the Kenai Peninsula. They also took a boat trip from Seward to Kenai Fjords National Park and saw calving glaciers.
The second trip was a birding cruise in Sept 2006 on the Spirit of Oceanus from the Kenai Peninsula all the way out the Aleutian Island chain to the mecca of the North American birding world, Attu, which is the best place to find stray species from Asia. Among the many leaders were Victor Emanuel, Larry Balch (the original Attour organizer), Marshall Iliff, Barry Zimmer, Jeri Langham, David Wolf, and Peter Dunne. The cruise stopped at Dutch Harbor to refuel before stopping for an extended stay at Attu to look for birds. The cruise then continued to Petropavlovsk, Russia on the Kamchatka Peninsula, from where the group took a plane back to Anchorage to complete the trip.
Bob has been in all 50 of the United States, and Alaska was the last checked off on that list. Most of them were added while birding with Steve on various vacations across the country. The three northernmost New England states were visited while on a birding trip to see an Atlantic Puffin nesting colony on Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine with Chuck Krulas and Jeff Stephenson in June of 2002.
Birding was a passion for Bob right up until the time of his passing. He inspired others to pursue a passion for birding as well, and based on the thousands of pounds of bird seed put out at his rural Byron home over the last several decades, even the birds fully understood Bob’s passion for birding.
From Bill Bruins:
Bob fueled my birding. His information about places in SE MN directed me to the places where birds are and he always shared GOOD sightings. I was impressed when he built a pond next to his house to attract water and shorebirds.
From Jerry Pruett:
Bob was one of the first people I birded with when I got into the sport back in 1978. I had learned too late that Vince Herring, another Olmsted birder and former Quarry Hill naturalist, had just taught a class at Quarry Hill on beginning bird watching. Although I missed the class I soon was befriended by two of his students, Bob and his friend Jerry Bonkoski. Together we did a lot of local birding and traveled around Minnesota. Later his son Steve joined us on our excursions.
I learned a lot from Bob, not only bird ID but also record keeping. He kept very thorough records in Excel, and helped me organize myself more than he knew. The traveling and comradery was really fun. He organized all our Olmsted County Big Days every May for years, and I looked forward to that day much as Christmas. He did a lot for the local birding folks too, especially with his Olmsted needs list, his hotspot maps and later his Webpage with much helpful advice and several internet links. His involvement with ZVAS as the newsletter editor for many years was greatly appreciated. At the time I wrote a regular contributing article and Bob was generous with his help and kind advice. Bob continued on to become the president of the state birding organization, M.O.U. (as did Jerry Bonkoski). He was one of the top listers in the state with a total of 400, among the highest attainable in Minnesota.
Bob was a good friend for many years and I will miss him.
From Joel Dunnette:
I first met Bob Ekblad when he came on a birding field trip that I led many years ago. He had just taken a class on bird watching. It was, I think, in the late 1970s. We visited a few places, and at a small pond near Stewartville, Bob said "I think that I see a Least Bittern". Well, that is an uncommon bird, and it usually is hard to see. But that is what it was.
Clearly this relatively new birder not only had great observational skills, but had done his homework and studied the birds. Bob quickly became a better birder than I was and am.
Birding with Bob was fun. As he got more involved with Zumbro Valley Audubon, he took on very significant roles. He was very good at helping other birders, both in the field and with the information he organized. He created the first directory, with maps, of the best local birding spots, and what to expect in each season. He created a very well laid out paper checklist of birds of Minnesota - which became the standard around the state.
For many years he was the editor of our newsletter. He always tried to find humor and fun. He would include corny, punny jokes in the newsletter, along with the many useful but serious articles. Bob helped many birders join into the community of local birders, helped us all collaborate and have fun birding. I am grateful for having known Bob, and for his many contributions to Zumbro Valley Audubon and birding in general.
From Bob's son Steve Ekblad on behalf of the family:
Robert “Bob” Ekblad passed away on November 27, 2022, at the age of 77. One of his passions was birds and birding.
Bob took up the hobby of birding in 1978, when he moved his family from Rochester out to rural Byron, where he began to take note of all the interesting birds that came to the bird feeders on his wooded property and to his pond. He and his sons, Brian and Steve, began to spend more time discovering the birds of this area and those around his boyhood home in North Dakota, and he started keeping track of the interesting variety of birds he was seeing.
Bob quickly became active in the local Zumbro Valley Audubon Society, including a 5-year stint in editing their newsletter, a term as president, and editor of the ZVAS web site for a long time beginning in 1998. He was also active in the statewide birding organization, the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU). He was president of the MOU for two years, 1992 and 1993. He maintained and provided Minnesota state bird checklists for many years. He also created and has maintained a web site dedicated to birds and birding in Minnesota with special focus to birds and birding in Olmsted County and Southeastern Minnesota. Bob has kept track of the number of species of birds he saw and was able to reach some significant milestones in the ABA area (over 740), Lower 48 (over 700), Minnesota (exactly 400). Many of these species were seen on trips made with his son, Steve, as they traveled all around the United States. Bob bought the "where to go birding" books, and Steve did the research and planned the routes. They went on at least one trip per year from 1988 when Steve was 15 until 1996 when he completed college.
Bob also met Diane Anderson through the common interest in birding and spent a lot of time birding together over the years.
A birding highlight for Bob was taking two trips to Alaska with Victor Emanual Nature Tours (VENT). The first was the Grand Alaska trip with Gambel extension in June 2005 with Kevin Zimmer and David Wolf. That trip included going to Nome, taking a flight from Nome to the Inuit community of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island out in the Bering Sea, 38 miles from Russia, another flight to St. Paul in the Priblof Islands, and driving to Denali National Park and to Seward on the Kenai Peninsula. They also took a boat trip from Seward to Kenai Fjords National Park and saw calving glaciers.
The second trip was a birding cruise in Sept 2006 on the Spirit of Oceanus from the Kenai Peninsula all the way out the Aleutian Island chain to the mecca of the North American birding world, Attu, which is the best place to find stray species from Asia. Among the many leaders were Victor Emanuel, Larry Balch (the original Attour organizer), Marshall Iliff, Barry Zimmer, Jeri Langham, David Wolf, and Peter Dunne. The cruise stopped at Dutch Harbor to refuel before stopping for an extended stay at Attu to look for birds. The cruise then continued to Petropavlovsk, Russia on the Kamchatka Peninsula, from where the group took a plane back to Anchorage to complete the trip.
Bob has been in all 50 of the United States, and Alaska was the last checked off on that list. Most of them were added while birding with Steve on various vacations across the country. The three northernmost New England states were visited while on a birding trip to see an Atlantic Puffin nesting colony on Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine with Chuck Krulas and Jeff Stephenson in June of 2002.
Birding was a passion for Bob right up until the time of his passing. He inspired others to pursue a passion for birding as well, and based on the thousands of pounds of bird seed put out at his rural Byron home over the last several decades, even the birds fully understood Bob’s passion for birding.
From Bill Bruins:
Bob fueled my birding. His information about places in SE MN directed me to the places where birds are and he always shared GOOD sightings. I was impressed when he built a pond next to his house to attract water and shorebirds.
From Jerry Pruett:
Bob was one of the first people I birded with when I got into the sport back in 1978. I had learned too late that Vince Herring, another Olmsted birder and former Quarry Hill naturalist, had just taught a class at Quarry Hill on beginning bird watching. Although I missed the class I soon was befriended by two of his students, Bob and his friend Jerry Bonkoski. Together we did a lot of local birding and traveled around Minnesota. Later his son Steve joined us on our excursions.
I learned a lot from Bob, not only bird ID but also record keeping. He kept very thorough records in Excel, and helped me organize myself more than he knew. The traveling and comradery was really fun. He organized all our Olmsted County Big Days every May for years, and I looked forward to that day much as Christmas. He did a lot for the local birding folks too, especially with his Olmsted needs list, his hotspot maps and later his Webpage with much helpful advice and several internet links. His involvement with ZVAS as the newsletter editor for many years was greatly appreciated. At the time I wrote a regular contributing article and Bob was generous with his help and kind advice. Bob continued on to become the president of the state birding organization, M.O.U. (as did Jerry Bonkoski). He was one of the top listers in the state with a total of 400, among the highest attainable in Minnesota.
Bob was a good friend for many years and I will miss him.
From Joel Dunnette:
I first met Bob Ekblad when he came on a birding field trip that I led many years ago. He had just taken a class on bird watching. It was, I think, in the late 1970s. We visited a few places, and at a small pond near Stewartville, Bob said "I think that I see a Least Bittern". Well, that is an uncommon bird, and it usually is hard to see. But that is what it was.
Clearly this relatively new birder not only had great observational skills, but had done his homework and studied the birds. Bob quickly became a better birder than I was and am.
Birding with Bob was fun. As he got more involved with Zumbro Valley Audubon, he took on very significant roles. He was very good at helping other birders, both in the field and with the information he organized. He created the first directory, with maps, of the best local birding spots, and what to expect in each season. He created a very well laid out paper checklist of birds of Minnesota - which became the standard around the state.
For many years he was the editor of our newsletter. He always tried to find humor and fun. He would include corny, punny jokes in the newsletter, along with the many useful but serious articles. Bob helped many birders join into the community of local birders, helped us all collaborate and have fun birding. I am grateful for having known Bob, and for his many contributions to Zumbro Valley Audubon and birding in general.