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-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*May 3, 2000
*MNDU0005.03

-Birds mentioned

• Red-necked Grebe
• Snowy Egret
• Tundra Swan
• Northern Pintail
• Northern Shoveler
• American Wigeon
• Redhead
• Lesser Scaup
• Orange-crowned Warbler
• Nashville Warbler
• Magnolia Warbler
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Savannah Sparrow
• American Goldfinch
• Evening Grosbeak

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: May 3, 2000
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 525-5952
Compiler: David Benson (drbenson@cpinternet.com)
Transcriber: David Benson (drbenson@cpinternet.com)
Re-transcriber: David Cahlander (dac@skypoint.com)

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Wednesday, May 3rd. The report is being updated a day early to report on a SNOWY EGRET found by Jim Lind in Superior, Wisconsin. The bird was first seen at 6:00 pm on May 2nd along Hwy 53, one mile east of the Nemadji River. The bird was on the south side of the road near some large culverts and a pond, and it was still present this morning.

A few more warblers have begun showing up. In addition to many YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and a few ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, Dave Grosshuesch banded a NASHVILLE WARBLER at Hawk Ridge, and today, Dave Krikorian reported a MAGNOLIA WARBLER from Knife River.

There have been close to 1000 SCAUP, mostly LESSER SCAUP, on the bay side of Minnesota Point this week. Peder Svingen reported 27 RED-NECKED GREBES on the lake side of the point on Monday.Mike Hendrickson reported the first SAVANNAH SPARROW on the 28th, and now there are many of them back at their usual summer locations around Duluth.

In addition to the Scaup, a variety of duck species are still in the area, including REDHEADS, and NORTHERN PINTAILS, AMERICAN WIGEON, and NORTHERN SHOVELERS reported by Rick Schroeder.

A few other migration notes: there have been flocks of EVENING GROSBEAKS moving through town this week, and there are many AMERICAN GOLDFINCH in the neighborhoods of Duluth this week. Most of the TUNDRA SWANS are gone, but a couple of swans were reported from Wisconsin Point on the 28th.

The Hawk Ridge Birdathon will be Saturday, May 20th. This is one of the highlights of the Minnesota birding year and lots of fun for birders of all abilities. For more information on this important fund-raising activity for the benefit of Hawk Ridge, call Terry Wiens at 525-6158, or e-mail him at .

The Duluth Audubon Society is sponsoring a series of Free Family Birding Hikes on Tuesday evenings, including next Tuesday, May 9th at 6:30 p.m. at Hawk Ridge.

The next field trip of my bird identification class will be on Thursday, May 4th at 6:00 pm at the Endion Station visitors information building near Canal Park. There will also be trips on Tuesday, May 9th at 8:30 am, and Thursday, May 11th at 6:00 pm. For more information about any of these opportunities, call me, Dave Benson, at 728-5812.

Unless something unusual is seen in the meantime which needs to be reported immediately, the Duluth Birding Report is normally updated once a week on Thursdays; the next scheduled update will be on May 11th. The phone number is (218) 525-5952, and callers can leave a message if they wish after the tone at the end of the tape. Also note that a message can be left without having to wait for the birding report to end: after the tape starts playing, push 5 on a touch-tone phone, the tape will then stop, the tone will sound and you can leave your message.

The Duluth Birding Report is sponsored and funded by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU), the state bird club, as a service to its members. For more information on the MOU, either write us c/o the Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 Church Street S E, Minneapolis MN 55455, or visit the MOU web site at . -end-

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