[mou] Northwest Minnesota Birding Report- Friday, November 14, 2003

[Jeanie Joppru]

This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Friday, November 14,
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.

Snow blankets the area this week, although temperatures are mild, so
there are more reports of feeder birds, and of the typical open country
early winter birds such as longspurs, snow buntings and horned larks.

Pat Rice reported from Beltrami County that she had the first EVENING
GROSBEAKS of the season at her feeder. This is a noteworthy sighting
since few have been reported in recent years. She also saw quite a
number of AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS in the county.

Here in Pennington County, I had two late AMERICAN ROBINS poking around
in the snow looking for food the last few days, and on Sunday, November
9th, I saw a late GREAT BLUE HERON swoop down over the frozen Red Lake
River, apparently looking for open water.

Polk County sightings reported by Betsy Batstone- Cunningham included 5
COMMON MERGANSERS, 2 BALD EAGLES, AMERICAN ROBINS, and COMMON REDPOLLS
at the East Grand Forks wastewater treatment ponds. Heidi Hughes birded
at Pancratz Prairie on November 8th, and observed 5 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS,
10 GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKENS, two WESTERN MEADOWLARKS, HORNED LARKS, SNOW
BUNTINGS, and LAPLAND LONGSPURS. On the 9th, she found a OSPREY flying
over the Red Lake River near the American Crystal Sugar plant, and 24
COMMON REDPOLLS  near the Minakwa Country Club. On November 13,Donna and
Leon Thoreson reported BROWN CREEPER, FOX SPARROW, and RUSTY BLACKBIRD
in their yard near Climax.

Clay County sightings sent in by Mel and Elaine Bennefeld included a
juvenile GOLDEN EAGLE, PILEATED WOODPECKER,  COMMON RAVEN and
SHORT-EARED OWL near the Ponderosa Golf Club.  =20

Dave Hochhalter in Becker County reported a pair of NORTHERN CARDINALS
at their feeder along CR 54 on November 4th. They were still visiting
the feeder on November 7th. A RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER was there too. Also
in Becker County , Kay Hartness had three PINE GROSBEAKS at her feeder
near Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge.

On November 7, Dan and Sandy Thimgan observed GREEN-WINGED TEAL and
LESSER YELLOWLEGS along the shore of West Battle Lake. 30 BOHEMIAN
WAXWINGS were found on the west side of Silver Lake just outside of the
town of Battle Lake on November 11th.=20

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, November 21, 2003.