[mou] Northwest Minnesota Birding Report- Friday, November 21, 2003

[Jeanie Joppru]

This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Friday, November 21,
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.

With the recent mild weather, the birds are moving around, but few new
species are being seen and reported. The snow is about gone, but more is
predicted for the weekend.

Alma Ronningen saw a BROWN CREEPER in Otter Tail County on November
16th. Other birds she reported included four BALD EAGLES, a NORTHERN
SHRIKE on the 18th, and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD on the 19th; on the 20th,
she saw a total of thirty-six TRUMPETER SWANS  in Otter Tail County.
Seventeen of them were in the public access on South Lake Lida right
next to Highway 108.

>From Becker County, Dave Hochhalter still has NORTHERN CARDINALS coming
to his feeder in Detroit Lakes.

Three SNOWY OWLS were again reported in Polk County- this time at the
Burnham Creek Wildlife Management Area on November 14th. They were
spotted by Jason Eckstein, but were not relocated later in the day by
Heidi Hughes. These are probably the same birds reported last week, and
they are obviously on the move. Other birds reported by Heidi in Polk
County included BALD EAGLE, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, AMERICAN KESTREL, more
than 50 GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKENS, and WESTERN MEADOWLARK. Mike
Christopher in Crookston reported RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES at the feeder.
Donna and Leon Thoreson near Climax have a GREAT HORNED OWL in their
yard. Randy Chaffee reported the usual winter residents at the feeder
including AMERICAN GOLDFINCH.

Shelley Steva observed a MERLIN on the southwest side of Thief River
Falls, Pennington County, on November 16th. A RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER and
a PILEATED WOODPECKER are coming to our feeder near Thief River Falls
regularly.

Gretchen Mehmel reported in from Norris Camp of birds seen this week in
Lake of the Woods County. They included four BALD EAGLES, one
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, five SHARP-TAILED GROUSE, GRAY JAY, PINE GROSBEAK,
and EVENING GROSBEAK.

Thanks to Shelley Steva, Mike Christopher, Heidi Hughes, Randy Chaffee,
Gretchen Mehmel, Alma Ronningen, and Dave Hochhalter 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, November 28, 2003.