[mou] Northwest Minnesota Birding Report- Friday, October 24, 2003

[Jeanie Joppru]

This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Friday, October 24,
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.

Birds are still moving through the area this week during the lovely fall
weather, but the temperature is forecast to drop this weekend and we can
expect the conditions to get much more like late fall. Birding this week
has been spotty with the numbers of migrants dropping off rapidly as the
migration comes to a close.

Roland Jordahl reported from Otter Tail County that the migration is
proceeding there with sightings of COMMON LOONS, AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS,
HARRIS'S SPARROWS, and WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS among others. Also in
Otter Tail County, Alma Ronningen reported seeing kinglets.

In Wilkin County Alma Ronningen reported AMERICAN BITTERN, SANDHILL
CRANE, and LAPLAND LONGSPURS near the Rothsay WMA.

Mary Wyatt saw a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK near Detroit Lakes in Becker County
on October 22nd. Other birds that she reported included RED-BELLIED
WOODPECKER, PILEATED WOODPECKER, FOX SPARROW, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW,
and PURPLE FINCH.

In Norman County on October 17th, Carol Schumacher observed TRUMPETER
SWANS at the Twin Valley wastewater treatment ponds; also AMERICAN TREE
SPARROWS, and LAPLAND LONGSPURS in that county. On the 18th in Norman
County, she saw GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKEN, SANDHILL CRANES, and HARRIS'S
SPARROW, and on the 19th there was a SMITH'S LONGSPUR at the Ada
wastewater treatment ponds.

In Polk County, Shelley Steva saw 6 GRAY PARTRIDGE four miles west of
the Pembina WMA near the border of Pennington and Polk Counties. A
ROSS'S GOOSE was found by Peder Svingen near Fosston on October 18th,
and 299 AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS were seen at the Crookston wastewater
treatment ponds. On the 20th, we found a WILD TURKEY wandering along the
Crookston Highway 75 bypass- this is undoubtedly an escapee from
captivity but fun to see none-the- less. Thursday, October 23rd, Peder
Svingen found a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK and 30 GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKENS in
Gentilly township.

Carol Schumacher birded in Red Lake County on the 19th and reported SNOW
GEESE, TUNDRA SWANS, and both LAPLAND LONGSPURS and SMITH'S LONGSPURS. A
MERLIN and 19 GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKENS  were seen in Red Lake County on
Monday. An adult GOLDEN EAGLE was observed by Peder Svingen soaring over
the Red Lake River near the Red Lake Falls wastewater treatment ponds on
October 23rd. A RING-NECKED PHEASANT  was seen 2 miles west of Plummer,
a MERLIN at Oak Grove Cemetery, and a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK one mile
southwest of Red Lake Falls.

Beltrami County sightings reported this week included an immature
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER seen by Pat Rice in Bemidji on Monday, and a
small flock of RED CROSSBILLS spotted by two birders in Blackduck on the
19th.

A scoter of unknown species was seen far out on Lake Winnibigoshish in
Cass County on October 19th.

In Marshall County, the two SURF SCOTERS reported last week were found
to be still at Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge on the 20th. Most
interesting sighting at Agassiz on Monday was an immature GOLDEN EAGLE
seen over Northwest Pool, causing thousands of waterfowl including SNOW
GEESE both white and blue morph, CANADA GEESE, ducks of several species,
and SANDHILL CRANES to rise up at once from the marsh in a swirling mass
of birds, all calling together. Late in the afternoon, a NORTHERN
GOSHAWK  was seen on the eastern boundary of the refuge. The weekly
shorebird survey revealed that numbers were down again from last week
with 302 birds of 8 species being tallied.

Thanks to Shelley Steva, Carol Schumacher, Peder Svingen, Alma
Ronningen, Mary Wyatt, Roland Jordahl, and Pat Rice 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, October 31, 2003.