Duluth RBA

Previous reports: December 20 24 31 , January 7 14 28 , February 11 .
Other Hotlines: Minnesota Statewide
-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*February 18, 1999
*MNDU9902.18

-Birds mentioned
-Transcript

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: February 18, 1999
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 525-5952
Compiler: Kim Eckert (kreckert@cp.duluth.mn.us)
Transcriber: Kim Eckert (kreckert@cp.duluth.mn.us)
Re-transcriber: David Cahlander (dac@skypoint.com)

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, Feb. 18, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

The winter birding siuation in Duluth and vicinity so far during January and February has been quite stable, with few changes from week to week. But there was one species of significance reported this week when the first THREE-TOED WOODPECKER of the season was seen Feb. 14. The location was in Lake Co. off the Spruce Rd. which turns north off Minn. Hwy. 1, 14 miles NW of Co. Rd. 2. The bird was about 300 yards up the side road which turns off the the Spruce Rd., 0.4 mile from Hwy. 1.

About the only other new species of interest being seen this week involves some very early spring migrants, as a flock of 10 HORNED LARKS was found Feb. 14 at the intersection of Carlton Co. Rds. 1 and 6.

As reported on previous tapes:

An adult PEREGRINE FALCON is being seen occasionally in the Duluth harbor area. SPRUCE GROUSE can be found in Lake Co. at various locations on Co. Rd. 2 and on Minn. Hwy. 1 (although observers are reminded that RUFFED GROUSE also occur in these same areas). SHARP-TAILED GROUSE are probably still being seen in Aitkin Co. south of Palisade along Twp. Rd. 380. THAYER'S GULL, ICELAND GULL, and GLAUCOUS GULL (plus an occasional 1st-winter GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL ) are wintering at the Superior, WI landfill. There still have not been any definite sightings of N. Hawk Owl all winter and no reports of Great Gray Owl this week, but a SNOWY OWL or two can be found in the Duluth-Superior harbor area, with probably the best places to look at the Murphy Oil Refinery in Superior and on the Superior side of the bay ice between the I-535 bridge and Barker's I.; another SNOWY OWL was also seen Feb. 16 flying north over the 800 block of East 5th St. That BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER is still in the pine plantation at Hawk Ridge in Duluth as it has been since December -- most of the sightings have been just beyond where the Pinewoods Trail (which is marked by blue diamonds and begins off Skyline Pkwy., 1/2 mile west of Seven Bridges Rd.) turns to the left. Scattered flocks of BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS have been most recently reported in Aurora and Ely in St. Louis Co. and in the Morgan Park area of Duluth.

And such birds as ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, NORTHERN SHRIKE, BOREAL CHICKADEE, GRAY JAY, SNOW BUNTING, PINE GROSBEAK, EVENING GROSBEAK, and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL continue to be seen at various locations, although there have been no recent reports of redpolls or Red Crossbills.

Unless something unusual is seen in the meantime which needs to be reported on immediately, this Birding Report is normally updated once a week on Thursdays, so that the next scheduled update will be on Feb. 25. As always, if you have birds to report you may either: 1) leave a message after the tone at the end of the tape* -- the number is (218) 525-5952 ; or 2) call me directly at (218) 525-6930; or 3) e-mail me at .

(*Callers may leave a message on the tape without having to wait for the Birding Report to end. To do this, after the tape starts playing push 5 on your touch-tone phone, the tape will then stop, the tone will sound, and you can then leave your message.)

This Birding Report is provided and funded by Minnesota's state bird club, the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU), as a service to its members. For more information on the MOU, write us c/o Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 Church Street S.E., Minneapolis MN 55455; or visit the MOU web page at http://biosci.cbs.umn.edu/~mou.




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