Minnesota Duluth/North Shore RBA
Minnesota Duluth/North Shore RBA
Minnesota Duluth/North Shore RBA
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Previous reports: November 2 9 16 23 30, December 7 14.
Other Hotlines: Minnesota Statewide | Detroit Lakes
-RBA *Minnesota *Duluth/North Shore *December 17, 2006 *MNDU0612.17-Birds mentioned
Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: December 17, 2006
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 834-2858
Compiler: Jim Lind (jslind@frontiernet.net)
This is the Duluth Birding Report for Sunday, December 17th, 2006 sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. This report is being updated to report on results from the Duluth and Two Harbors Christmas Bird Counts.
A tentative total of 68 species were found by nearly 60 participants on Saturday's Duluth Christmas Bird Count. Highlights included record high counts of 75 COMMON MERGANSERS, 3,175 BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, 573 RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, 180 WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, and 60 NORTHERN CARDINALS. The previous record for Northern Cardinal was last year’s 27 birds. Other highlights included GADWALL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, LESSER SCAUP, two HARLEQUIN DUCKS, two WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, and a HOODED MERGANSER in the Duluth Harbor, an unidentified LOON near the Lakewood Pumping Station, a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK in East Duluth, a MERLIN and PEREGRINE FALCON in the Duluth Harbor, THAYER’S GULL and GLAUCOUS GULL at Canal Park, a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER at 5198 Greenwood Lane, 28 GRAY JAYS (our second-highest total), two TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRES (one at Allendale Ave. and Osakis St., and another at the Park Point bus turnaround), a VARIED THRUSH at 1807 McFarlane Road, a PINE WARBLER (a new species for the count) at 5280 Greenwood Lane, a FOX SPARROW in East Duluth, and a RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD in Lakewood Township. Species missed included Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, and Common Grackle. If you saw any of these species on Saturday within the Duluth count circle, please leave a message about your sighting.
Today's Two Harbors Christmas Bird Count turned up a preliminary total of 47 species, including a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER at Burlington Bay, HORNED GREBES at the mouth of the Stewart River, migrating GOLDEN EAGLE and MERLIN, two AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKERS (one at Lighthouse Point and one at 4th Ave. and 3rd St.), BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS at three locations, 27 GRAY JAYS, BOREAL CHICKADEES at Stoney Point, Tom’s Logging Camp, and Kendall Road in Knife River, a TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE at 8th Ave. and 18th Street, and at least 12 NORTHERN CARDINALS.
Repeating from Thursday's report, the three GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCHES at the Fond du Lac Resource Management Division office just west of Cloquet were seen as recently as the 15th. A GYRFALCON was found by Peder Svingen and Jim Lind in the Duluth harbor on the 9th on the ice south of the aquarium. Kim Eckert found a LONG-TAILED DUCK on the 14th at the east end of Gitchie Gammi Park in Duluth. Jason Caddy reported two THAYER’S GULLS, a GLAUCOUS GULL, and an ICELAND GULL at the Superior landfill on the 11th, and a HORNED GREBE just east of Stoney Point on the 14th.
A female VARIED THRUSH was seen in Two Harbors on the 12th, on the 800 block of 9th Avenue. A male VARIED THRUSH was found on the 9th on the south side of the town of Aitkin at 277 Ripple River Drive.
Celeste Kawulok found NORTHERN HAWK OWL on the 10th along the Rice Lake Road in Duluth, across from the Snowflake ski center. Bill Nelson found a GREAT GRAY OWL in Cass County on the 7th, 1.9 miles north of Federal Dam along CR 8. A GREAT GRAY OWL was found by Chris Benson and others on the 12th along Aitkin Country Road 18 and Pietz's Road (320th Pl.). Warren Nelson and Steve and Jo Blanich saw an AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER and three BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS on the 9th along CR 3, five miles west of CR 1.
The first official Fredenberg Township Christmas Bird Count will be held on Saturday, December 30, 2006. Anyone interested should contact compiler Celeste Kawulok at (218) 591-6076 or by e-mail at ckawulok@cloquet.k12.mn.us.
The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, December 21st.
The telephone number of the Duluth Rare Bird Alert is 218-834-2858. Information about bird sightings may be left following the recorded message.
The Duluth Birding Report is sponsored and funded by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU) as a service to its members. For more information on the MOU, either write us c/o the Bell Museum, e-mail us at mou@moumn.org, or visit the MOU web site at moumn.org.
Send your rare and unusual Minnesota sightings to our internet list sevice:
MOU-net@cbs.umn.edu.
Learn more about MOU-net.
