[mou] Duluth RBA 12/23/04

[David Benson]

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, December 23rd, 2004, 
sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

The biggest birding news in our area continues to be the irruption of 
northern owls. Note the remarkable totals found during the Christmas 
Bird Counts reported on below. As in the past weeks, Great gray and 
hawk owls may be found at many locations around northeastern Minnesota; 
among the easier spots to look are in the Sax-Zim area along Cty Rds 52 
and 7, and on any of the back roads between Duluth and Two Harbors (for 
Great Grays). In Duluth, hawk owls were seen this week on Woodland Ave 
near the entrance to Hartley Nature Center, and at W. Tischer Rd and 
Jean Duluth Rd. Great Grays were seen above London Rd around 34th Ave 
E, on the Piedmont ski trails, at Snowflake Ski area on Rice Lake Rd, 
and along Arlington near Lake Superior College.

The Sax-Zim Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 20th, organized by Sparky 
Stensaas, tied its record species high with 33, including an astounding 
70 GREAT GRAY OWLS and 42 NORTHERN HAWK OWLS, both record counts for 
these species. Other Highlights included BOREAL CHICKADEES seen along 
Owl Ave in the "bend," two BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES, and a HOARY REDPOLL 
(again at a non-feeder location).

The Two Harbors count on the 19th, organized by Jim Lind and Frank 
Nicoletti, turned up 40 species, including 56 GREAT GRAY OWLS and 4 
NORTHERN HAWK OWLS. The Great Gray count was a North American record 
for one day, until the Sax-Zim count took place.

Fifty-six people found a preliminary count of 65 species on the 18th 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; other highlights were 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).

In Grand Marais also on the 18th, 15 people found a preliminary total 
of 36 species, 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.

Last week, 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. THAYER'S GULLS have been seen in Knife 
River recently.

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, December 
30th.

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.