[mou] Northwest Minnesota Birding Report- Friday, April 25, 2003

[Jeanie Joppru]

This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Friday, April 25,
2003 sponsored by the Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce. You
may also hear this report by calling (218) 847-5743 or 1-800-433-1888.

Trees are starting to bud, grass is starting to grow, and tonight I saw
bugs on the windshield so the warblers cannot be far behind! Migration
is progressing nicely with most duck species back already, reports of
gulls, herons and the first shorebirds are starting to come  in. The
earliest warbler has been reported from as far north as Pennington and
Marshall Counties, and numbers of sparrow species is increasing.

In Hubbard County, 3 miles south of Park Rapids, Walt Hanneman sighted a
VARIED THRUSH on April 19th.

Susan Wiste in Douglas County sent in sightings of MOURNING WARBLER,
NORTHERN FLICKER, and YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER on April 18, and VESPER
SPARROW and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER on the 21st.

Ottertail County sightings by Dave Sorgen included BROWN CREEPER, and
YELLOW-RUMPER WARBLER. WESTERN GREBES , LESSER YELLOWLEGS, and VESPER
SPARROWS  were reported this week by  Gordon and Artis Martinson
southwest of Fergus Falls. Dan and Sandy Thimgan reported YELLOW-BELLIED
SAPSUCKER, HERMIT THRUSH, CHIPPING SPARROW, OSPREY, and YELLOWHEADED
BLACKBIRD. They also saw the LONG-EARED OWLS  found last week by Carol
Schumacher in Fergus Falls. Up to 75 GREAT EGRETS have returned to the
Lake Alice rookery in Fergus Falls, and smaller numbers of BLACK-CROWNED
NIGHT HERONS are also there.

In Clay County, Bob O'Connor reports that at Felton Prairie the birds
that all go to see are returning- he found 59 GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKENS,
MARBLED GODWITS, SANDHILL CRANES,  LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, and
CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS  there on April 18th. A COMMON LOON was on
Flora Lake in Hitterdahl, and a GREAT EGRET at Hotsie Lake. Connie
Norheim found 5 AMERICAN PELICANS at Lake Marie along with several
species of ducks.

Janet Johannson  reported two pair of TRUMPETER SWANS on the north shore
of Big Detroit Lake on Saturday, April 19th. Mike Murphy says there are
GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKENS on a new lek at Hamden Slough NWR. The lek is
located in the dry bottoms of Hamden Lake about 200 yards from CR 106.
The location is 6.4 miles north of Audubon 1/4 mile SE of the
intersection of CR 13 and CR 106. Please remain on the road for viewing.

The Thoreson's in rural Polk County reported that MOURNING DOVE,
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, CEDAR WAXWING, SWAINSON'S THRUSH, SONG SPARROW,
and FOX SPARROW have returned to that area. I found a YELLOW-RUMPED
WARBLER at Wetland , Pines, and Prairies Audubon Sanctuary  on Monday.
Lori Becker reported from the sanctuary that an AMERICAN WOODCOCK, and
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET were seen at the sanctuary on April 19th, while
GREAT HORNED OWL, and CHIPPING SPARROW  were seen on the 23rd, and a
BROWN THRASHER appeared on the 24th.

The most exciting Marshall County sighting was sent in by Larry Johnson,
who reports that there are now over 3000 SANDHILL CRANES massed in a
field south of Old Mill State Park. At Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge,
he saw nearly all species of ducks that are to be expected at this time,
and in addition there were WILSON'S SNIPE and MARBLED GODWITS there.=20

Pennington County birds seen this week include COOPER'S HAWK,
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, FOX SPARROW, and
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.

Katie Haws reported from Beltrami County that she observed 15 COMMON
MERGANSERS, and many COMMON GOLDENEYE on Blackduck Lake.

Pat Rice took a trip to the rice paddies of Clearwater County where she
saw thousands of TUNDRA SWANS, 13 species of ducks, one TREE SWALLOW,
and 4 species of sparrows.

Beth Siverhus, Roseau County, reported WOOD DUCKS on the 18th and FOX
SPARROW on the 19th.

Gretchen Mehmel saw a SPRUCE GROUSE near Norris Camp in Lake of the
Woods County on April 22nd.

Thanks to the many folks who sent in reports this week.

Please report bird sightings to Jeanie Joppru by email, no later than
Thursday each week, at ajjoppru@wiktel.com OR call the Detroit Lakes
Chamber's toll free number: 1-800-542-3992. Detroit Lakes area birders
please call 847-9202. Please include the county where the sighting took
place. When reporting by email please put "NW Bird Report" in the
subject line of your message. The next scheduled update of this report
is Friday, May 2, 2003.