Minnesota Statewide RBA

Statewide RBA phone number: 763-780-8890 or 1-800-657-3700

Previous reports: November 4 11 18 24 , December 2 9 16 24 30 , January 6 .
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-RBA
*Minnesota
*Minnesota Statewide
*January 13, 2005
*MNST0501.13

-Birds mentioned
-Transcript

Hotline: Minnesota Statewide
Date: January 13, 2005
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU) http://biosci.umn.edu/~mou/
Reports: (763) 780-8890
Compiler: Anthony Hertzel
Transcriber: Anthony Hertzel (ahertzel@sihope.com)

This is the Minnesota Birding Report for Thursday, January 13th.

A YELLOW-BILLED LOON was discovered in Two Harbors, Lake County over the weekend and was seen as recently as the 12th. The bird was found on Lake Superior near Lighthouse point. A pair of HARLEQUIN DUCKS has also been present on the east side of breakwall.

The irruption of northern owls continues in Minnesota, as GREAT GRAY OWLS are now being reported moving south in large numbers into Carlton, Pine, Itasca, Aitkin, and Crow Wing counties. NORTHERN HAWK OWLS seem to have settled in but can still be found in places such as the Sax-Zim bog in St. Louis County. On the 5th, a SNOWY OWL was at the railroad yards in Proctor, St. Louis County.

The BARROW'S GOLDENEYE was found again on the 11th on the Mississippi River east of Hastings in Dakota County. It was once again in with a group of about 100 COMMON GOLDENEYE.

An apparent gray-phase GYRFALCON was seen briefly in Two Harbors on the 9th, flying past the lighthouse and down shore in the direction of Duluth.

On the 8th, 365 gulls were present at Black Dog Lake in Dakota County, including a GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL and two GLAUCOUS GULLS.

SPRUCE GROUSE were seen on the 9th along state highway 1 between mile post numbers 306-305 and at 301 in Lake County. Five more were just west of State Highway 73 on St. Louis County Road 85 on the 8th.

On the 8th, an AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER and two BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS were seen along the McDavitt Road in the Sax-Zim bog. From St. Louis County Road 7, go two miles west on Sax Road, then about two and a half miles north on McDavitt Road.

A TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE was relocated on the 7th at Leif Ericson Park in Duluth, in the conifers near the Viking ship replica.

On the 11th, a VARIED THRUSH was in a crabapple tree at Wilson Hall Courtyard of Itasca Community College in Itasca County. This is along U.S. Highway 169 in Grand Rapids.

This state-wide birding report is brought to you and financially supported by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU). The MOU is Minnesota's oldest and largest bird club.

The report is composed from observations generously submitted by MOU members and other birders throughout the state. You can support this weekly update by submitting your bird reports to Anthony Hertzel at axhertzel@sihope.com or by calling the hotline directly at 763-780-8890 and leaving a detailed message.

MOU members receive this report directly on MOU-net, the club's free e-mail listservice, which is available to anyone interested. For information contact David Cahlander at .

MOU members receive the organization's quarterly journal "The Loon" and the bimonthly magazine, "Minnesota Birding". For membership information, send an e-mail message to our membership secretary at moumembers@yahoo.com.

In cooperation with the Minnesota Office of Tourism, highlights of this hotline can be now heard at a toll free number which is available to callers outside the Twin Cities area. The number is 1-800-657-3700.

The MOU is pleased to offer this service. Thank you, and good birding.

The next scheduled update of this report is Thursday January 20th.

-- Anthony X. Hertzel -- axhertzel@sihope.com

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.




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