[mou] Duluth RBA 12/19/04

[David Benson]

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Sunday, December 19, 2004, 
sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. The report is being 
updated today to report on the results of area Christmas Bird Counts 
held yesterday. Thursday's report will report results of counts being 
held today and tomorrow.

Fifty-six people found a preliminary count of 63 species yesterday at 
the Duluth Christmas Bird Count. Highlights included record counts of 
four species: 19 PILEATED WOODPECKERS, 132 HOUSE FINCHES, 23 GREAT GRAY 
OWLS, and 87 AMERICAN ROBINS; a LONG-TAILED DUCK at Canal Park, a 
GOLDEN EAGLE at Hawk Ridge; an adult THAYER'S GULL and an adult 
GLAUCOUS GULL at Canal Park; 2 GREAT HORNED OWLS, 1 NORTHERN HAWK OWL, 
and 3 BARRED OWLS; 3 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS; a GRAY CATBIRD at 
Anastasia and Esther near UMD; 300 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS seen behind St. 
Scholastica (plus smaller groups at several locations); 12 RED 
CROSSBILLS near the intersection of Hicken and Grouse north of Duluth; 
2 HOARY REDPOLLS; and 635 PINE SISKINS (not a record, but much higher 
than in recent years). Species missed include Rough-legged Hawk, Gray 
Jay, Boreal Chickadee, and White-winged Crossbill. If you saw any of 
these species on Saturday, please leave a message about your sighting.

In Grand Marais, 15 people found a preliminary total of 36 species 
yesterday, including a LONG-TAILED DUCK, 25 SCOTER sp., 2 GREAT GRAY 
OWLS, 2 TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES, a VARIED THRUSH, 27 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS, 
and a BREWER'S BLACKBIRD.

Repeating from Thursday's report, a tour group from Iowa reported both 
BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER and AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER from the 
Spruce Rd, which turns north off Hwy 1 northwest of the jct. with Lake 
Cty Rd 2. They found BOREAL CHICKADEES along this road too. They also 
saw a SPRUCE GROUSE from Cty Rd 2, 2.5 miles north of the Sand River.

The best spot for gulls in our area is the Superior, WI landfill, where 
this week there were reports of three THAYER'S GULLS, two ICELAND 
GULLS, eight GLAUCOUS GULLS, a second winter LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, 
and a GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. A first winter THAYER'S GULL was seen 
again this week in Two Harbors, MN.

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, December 
23rd.

The telephone number of the Duluth Rare Bird Alert is 218-728-5030. 
Information about bird sightings may be left following the recorded 
message.

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 to 
mou@cbs.umn.edu, or visit the MOU web site at mou.mn.org.