Minnesota Statewide RBA
Minnesota Statewide RBA
Minnesota Statewide RBA
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-RBA *Minnesota *Minnesota Statewide *March 2, 2000 *MNST0003.02 -Birds mentioned
Hotline: Minnesota Statewide
Date: March 2, 2000
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU) http://biosci.umn.edu/~mou/
Reports: (763) 780-8890
Compiler: Anthony Hertzel
Transcriber: Anthony Hertzel (ahertzel@uswest.net)
This is the Minnesota birding report for Thursday March 2nd, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. Note that this hotline now has a new area code, that is 763.
Because of time constraints, information reported to this hotline may be edited or omitted, but all contributions are saved in our permanent record file.
A huge push of migrants came into Minnesota over the past week, and the extraordinary number of reports I received forces me to be necessarily brief in relating them here.
The TUFTED DUCK is still being seen at the Blue Lake settling ponds just east of Shakopee. The ponds are located on the north side of Scott County Road 101 one mile west of U.S. highway 169.
The NORTHERN HAWK OWL reported previously from the town of Palisade in Aitkin County was still there as of March 1st, but it can be difficult to find. The most recent directions are to take Township Road 554 to north 1/2 mile to the snowmobile trail and walk east about 1/4 mile. As well, several SHORT-EARED OWLS can be found in Aitkin County. Two places to look are the junction of Aitkin County Road 18 and 5, and also along Aitkin County Road 56 two miles east of U.S. highway 169. As many as ten Short-eareds are being seen in Wilkin County about two miles south of Lawndale.
A EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE is being seen at the Howard Parker residence just outside the town of Willmar. From Willmar take U.S. Highway 12 west about a mile to Kandiyohi County Road. #5. Go north about 3.5 miles watching for the sign to Horizon Hills. Turn there and drive about half a mile to 23rd St. NW and turn left. The Parkers are at 4270. Note that all interested parties should first contact Howard Parker to establish appropriate times for visiting.
On February 29th, Roger Schroeder reported a ROSS'S GOOSE at the Lac Qui Parle Refuge in Lac Qui Parle County. Steve Millard found three Ross's Geese on March 1st, four miles south of Fergus Falls on Otter Tail County Road 1.
Two very early BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS were seen in a flock of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS on the 25th at Lake Rebecca in Hastings, Dakota County.
On the 29th of February Jon Little found a LONG-TAILED DUCK at the Wells Lake bridge west of Faribault in Rice County.
Huge groups of other ducks and geese have been reported from across the state. I have several reports of flocks of GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE. 22 were seen on the 28th in eastern LeSueur County in a flooded field on County Road 4, one mile west of the Rice County line; 88 were at the Boon Lake Marsh in Meeker County on the 29th; and several were in Lyon County on the 28th. On the 25th 14 SNOW GEESE were seen flying over Rock County; and Mark Alt reported a flock of 27 Snow Geese at the sod farm on the east side of St. Louis County Road 7 in the Sax Zim bog. The February 26th date represents the earliest north date.
Interesting is the report of a PRAIRIE FALCON seen by Ed Levering on March 1st in Minneapolis, Hennepin County. He found the bird at the so-called "7 Corners" area near Cedar Avenue just east of I-35W.
Jim Pomplun and Eloise Jasken reported an early YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER on February 27th at the end of Lyndale Ave. in Bloomington, along the main path about 20 minutes east of the parking lot.
Additionally, KILLDEER have been reported from more than ten southern counties in the past few days. EASTERN BLUEBIRDS seemed to arrive all at once in the last week, and more than half the reports I received were for this species. GOLDEN EAGLES were reported three locations in Houston County, three in Wilkin County, and one in Otter Tail County. Other birds reported in numbers and localities too numerous to mention specifics include GREAT BLUE HERON, RING-BILLED GULL, AMERICAN ROBIN, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, FOX SPARROW, SNOW BUNTING, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, COMMON GRACKLE, WESTERN MEADOWLARK, and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL.
Thanks to the more than 50 callers who reported their sightings.
In cooperation with the Minnesota Office of Tourism, highlights of this hotline can be heard at a toll free number which is available to callers outside the Twin Cities area. That number is 1-800-657-3700.
The next scheduled update of this tape is Thursday march 9th.
Send your rare and unusual Minnesota sightings to our electronic hotline: MOU-net@biosci.umn.edu. To learn more, send a message (the message being these two words: info mou-net) to majordomo@biosci.umn.edu.
