[mou] Northwest Minnesota Birding Report- Friday, December 5, 2003

[Jeanie Joppru]

This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Friday, December 5,
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.

The weather seems to have stabilized this week and the reports show it-
no great stress on the birds so not a great number of unusual sightings
to report.

Another SNOWY OWL was found this week- one was reported by Russ Reisz
south of the Roseau River WMA  in Roseau County. A GREAT GRAY OWL was
observed by Gretchen Mehmel in Beltrami County at the intersection of
Morehouse Road and Dick's Parkway on December 3rd.=20

Susan Wiste saw some birds on Lake Carlos in Douglas County - two
TRUMPETER SWANS, AMERICAN GOLDENEYE, and a few HOODED MERGANSERS.

In Otter Tail County, Rick Gjervold found DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT,
AMERICAN GOLDENEYE, AMERICAN COOT, and RING-BILLED GULL at Fergus Falls.
Near Dent, he found 18 WILD TURKEYS.

Becker County birds reported by Luke Pechman included FOX SPARROW,
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, and four species of woodpecker at his feeders in
Detroit Lakes. They were RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, DOWNY WOODPECKER, HAIRY
WOODPECKER, and PILEATED WOODPECKER.

Joe Gartner, Clay County, observed SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, RED-BELLIED
WOODPECKER, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, and COMMON REDPOLL in his yard. At
Buffalo River State Park, he saw GREAT BLUE HERON, BALD EAGLE, and
PILEATED WOODPECKER. Rick Gjervold spotted two WILD TURKEYS in Clay
County  along the Red River on the Moorhead side across from the
Edgewood Golf Course on December 4th.

Shelley Steva found three AMERICAN ROBINS in Plummer in Red Lake County
on December 2nd, and on November 27th, there were COMMON REDPOLLS  at a
feeder near Thief River Falls in Pennington County.

Russ Reisz reported from Kittson and Roseau Counties this week. At
Pelan, on the Roseau-Kittson County line he found MOURNING DOVE,
AMERICAN ROBIN, AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, 10-12
PINE GROSBEAKS, EVENING GROSBEAK, and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. In the
northern part of the two counties, he saw BALD EAGLE, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK,
SHARP-TAILED GROUSE, SNOW BUNTINGS, and COMMON REDPOLLS.

Gretchen Mehmel saw two BALD EAGLES and two ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS in Lake
of the Woods County on November 30th. On December 4th, she heard a GREAT
HORNED OWL calling outside her window at Norris Camp in Lake of the
Woods County. Other birds she reported from that county included
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, PILEATED WOODPECKER, GRAY JAY, PINE GROSBEAK, and
COMMON REDPOLL.

Thanks to Shelley Steva, Susan Wiste, Gretchen Mehmel, Rick Gjervold,
Luke Pechman, Joe Gartner, and Russ Reisz for their reports.

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, December 12, 2003.