[mou] Duluth RBA 1/8/04

[David Benson]

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, January 8, 2004, 
sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

Two GREAT GRAY OWLS were seen over the weekend in Aitkin Cty 0.1 mile 
west of the jct of Cty Rd 18 and Pietz's Road, but neither bird has 
been seen in the past couple of days. Only one Great Gray has been seen 
recently in Sax-Zim--the bird on 133 1.5 miles west of 53. It was seen 
yesterday at both dawn and dusk.

No NORTHERN HAWK OWLS in Northeastern Minnesota again this year, but 
there is a bird not too far away in Wisconsin. From the town of 
Spooner, drive west on Hwy 70. Continue 3 miles past the Burnett Cty 
line, turn south on Burnett Cty Rd H and drive 4 miles. The bird was 
first seen on the 1st and was seen as recently as yesterday.

On the 3rd, Blaine Seeliger reported a SPRUCE GROUSE 5.1 miles north of 
Cty Rd 15 on Lake Cty Rd 2 and a BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER on Cty Rd 133 
2.4 miles east of Cty Rd 7 in Sax Zim.

The HARLEQUIN DUCK in Two Harbors was seen as recently as the 5th and 
the Harlequin at the French River near Duluth was last reported on the 
2nd. Three first-winter GLAUCOUS GULLS and one first-winter RING-BILLED 
GULL were among the 30 or so HERRING GULLS at Two Harbors (Agate Bay) 
on the 2nd.

Don Kienholz has a HOARY REDPOLL coming intermittently to his feeder on 
Martin Rd in Duluth. Birders may stop to look for the bird. The only 
recent report of BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS is a flock seen in Ely by Cindy 
Elias on the 2nd.

BOREAL CHICKADEES were found on the Rice Lake NWR Christmas Count.  
 From the Rice Lake NWR Headquarters on Hwy 65, travel north along Hwy 
65 for 3/4 mi, turn east and travel 1/2 mi. The birds were seen in the 
conifer stand on the north side of the road. Boreal Chickadees were 
seen again this week at various points near the north end of Owl Ave in 
Sax-Zim.

John Pastor and Mary Dragich had a NORTHERN SHRIKE in their yard on 
Skyline Parkway in Duluth on the 4th. A NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD continues 
to be seen in Grand Marais near the jct. of 3rd and 4th.

The Isabella Christmas Bird Count turned up an above-average total of 
25 species in spite of high winds on the count day, January 3rd. Jim 
and Sharon Lind found 1 GREAT GRAY OWL and a BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER on 
the Stony River Forest Road. The count yielded 61 RED CROSSBILLS and 
two species new to the count, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK and BROWN THRASHER. 
Evening Grosbeaks and Spruce Grouse were conspicuous by their absence, 
and only 2 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were found.

With many visiting birders in the area this time of year, reports of 
sightings of the following species would be appreciated: Gyrfalcon, 
Great Gray Owl, Black-backed Woodpecker, Bohemian Waxwing, Snow 
Bunting, White-winged Crossbill, or other owls.

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, January 
15.

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 of Natural 
History, 10 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, or send an e-mail 
to mou@cbs.umn.edu, or visit the MOU web site at mou.mn.org.