[mou] Duluth RBA 11/6/03

[David R. Benson]

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, November 6th, 2003,
sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

The SAGE THRASHER originally spotted in Grand Marais by Jim Lind on October
17th was still being seen as recently as Monday, November 3rd. I found a
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD in Croftville, two miles east of Grand Marais on October
31st, and it was also seen as recently as the 3rd on the shore near the
west end of the Croftville Road. Sue McDonnell found a VARIED THRUSH in the
Grand Marais campground that was seen today.

A SPOTTED TOWHEE  has been seen, apparently for over a week, in the 1300
block of Minnesota Ave on Minnesota Point in Duluth. The bird was reported
most recently from a yard on the lake side of the street on Tuesday
morning. It has not been seen visiting a feeder, or at any habitual time of
day.

Mike Hendrickson and Tom Auer found one adult and one immature TRUMPETER
SWAN in the Duluth Harbor off Minnesota Point on the 18th. They also saw 5
BLACK SCOTERS and 4 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS that day, plus a flock of over 200
unidentified shorebirds, possibly Sanderlings. Tom also reported a
first-winter THAYER'S GULL on Sunday. Another was seen in Grand Marais on
Saturday. On the 2nd, Tom Worwa found a DUNLIN at 40th Ave West in Duluth.

Barb Adams saw a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER on Sunday in SE Carlton County, and
Cathy Nelson also reported a Red-bellied in her yard north of Duluth on
Tuesday. Jim and Carol Tveekrem reported another from Schroeder on Sunday.
There have been an unusally large number of reports of this species this
fall in northeastern Minnesota.

There were several reports of COMMON REDPOLLS and PINE GROSBEAKS this
week--there was a large movement of both species down the North Shore over
the weekend, in addition to smaller numbers of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS.

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Wednesday, November 12th.

The phone number for the Duluth Birding Report is (218) 728-5030, and
callers can report bird sightings if they wish after the tone at the end of
each tape.

The Duluth Birding Report is sponsored and funded by the Minnesota
Ornithologists' Union (MOU) as a service to its members.  For more
information on the MOU, either write us c/o the Bell Museum of Natural
History, 10 Church Street SE, Minneapolis MN 55455; or send an e-mail to
mou@cbs.umn.edu; or visit the MOU web site at mou.mn.org.