[mou] weekend of birding near Duluth
Geoffrey A. Williamson
geoffrey.williamson@comcast.net
Mon, 12 Jan 2004 22:32:16 -0600
--=====================_9201276==_.ALT
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
I was with a group of eight birders from the Chicago area who visited the
Duluth area from January 8 to 11. We enjoyed the nice birds, the beautiful
scenery, and the wonderful hospitality of the Duluth birding community.
On Friday the 9th, we visited the Sax-Zim area. Birds we saw there were
* BALD EAGLE - 2
* NORTHERN GOSHAWK - 1 adult (Owl Ave.)
* ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK - 2
* DOWNY WOODPECKER - 2
* HAIRY WOODPECKER - 6
* BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER - 1 (Admiral Road)
* NORTHERN SHRIKE - 1 (CR 133, 5 miles west of CR 7)
* GRAY JAY - 5
* BLUE JAY - 4
* BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE - 3 (one on SR 29 at the house with feeders a
couple of miles south of Correction Line Road, two on SR 7 near Kelsey)
* COMMON RAVEN - 27
* BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE - 79
* BOREAL CHICKADEE - 8 (five along north end of Owl Ave., three on
Stickney Rd.)
* RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH - 1
* WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH - 4
* PINE GROSBEAK - 18 (11 on SR 29 at the house with feeders south of
Correction Line Rd., seven at the house with feeders at CR 380 and SR 7)
* RED CROSSBILL - 1 (Owl Ave.)
* WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL - 5 (two at SR 133 at US 53, and three on Owl
Ave.)
* COMMON REDPOLL - 71
* HOARY REDPOLL - 1 (at the house with feeders on SR 29 south of
Correction Line Rd.: a larger, very white redpoll, with apparantly no
undertail streaking, a clean white rump, rather white back with brown
streaking, seen perched overhead through binoculars and seen through a
scope while under the feeders)
Don Kienholz treated us to his HOARY REDPOLL later in the day.
On Saturday, January 10 we drove up the relatively birdless Lake County
Road 2. Best birds were two GREAT GRAY OWLS at 7:35AM perched on a pole
and traffic sign 0.9 miles south of the Christianson Lake Road (about eight
to nine miles south of CR 15). We also had a RUFFED GROUSE a couple of
miles south of there. Along SR 1 we had a smattering of PINE GROSBEAKS and
COMMON REDPOLLS, a few GRAY JAYS and reasonable numbers of chickadees and a
few woodpeckers and nuthatches, but the bird life was pretty slim.
In Two Harbors on the 10th we had two NORTHERN SHRIKES, RED-BELLIED
WOODPECKERS, and plenty of Redpolls. There were no unusual ducks or gulls
(though two adult RING-BILLED GULLS) at Agate Bay while we were there.
We ended the day at Peavey in Superior, WI where we saw an adult, gray
morph GYRFALCON carry some wriggling prey out on the ice to devour (this
was at 4:15 to about 4:45PM). The bird flew in right over our heads.
We headed back south to Chicago on Sunday the 11th, visiting the NORTHERN
HAWK-OWL in Burnett County on the way back. We also made stops south of
Solon Springs in Douglas County, WI on the way to the Hawk-Owl as well as
on our way up last Thursday. This is along US 53 at CR M. One mile north
of M and a mile and a half west of US 53 is Mead Church Rd, where we had a
flock of 41 SNOW BUNTINGS. Along Flowage Road a mile and a half south of
M and two miles west of US 53 we stopped at some feeders where there were
quite a few woodpeckers, jays, etc. The Wilson's, who live on this road,
reported to us that they have PINE GROSBEAK and EVENING GROSBEAK coming to
their feeders, though not every day. We spotted 11 RED CROSSBILLS in some
conifer trees near this location, too.
Geoff Williamson
Chicago, IL
geoffrey.williamson@comcast.net
Geoffrey A. Williamson
geoffrey.williamson@comcast.net
--=====================_9201276==_.ALT
Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"
<html>
I was with a group of eight birders from the Chicago area who visited the
Duluth area from January 8 to 11. We enjoyed the nice birds, the
beautiful scenery, and the wonderful hospitality of the Duluth birding
community.<br><br>
On Friday the 9th, we visited the Sax-Zim area. Birds we saw there
were
<ul>
<li>BALD EAGLE - 2
<li>NORTHERN GOSHAWK - 1 adult (Owl Ave.)
<li>ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK - 2
<li>DOWNY WOODPECKER - 2
<li>HAIRY WOODPECKER - 6
<li>BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER - 1 (Admiral Road)
<li>NORTHERN SHRIKE - 1 (CR 133, 5 miles west of CR 7)
<li>GRAY JAY - 5
<li>BLUE JAY - 4
<li>BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE - 3 (one on SR 29 at the house with feeders a
couple of miles south of Correction Line Road, two on SR 7 near Kelsey)
<li>COMMON RAVEN - 27
<li>BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE - 79
<li>BOREAL CHICKADEE - 8 (five along north end of Owl Ave., three on
Stickney Rd.)
<li>RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH - 1
<li>WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH - 4
<li>PINE GROSBEAK - 18 (11 on SR 29 at the house with feeders south of
Correction Line Rd., seven at the house with feeders at CR 380 and SR
7)
<li>RED CROSSBILL - 1 (Owl Ave.)
<li>WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL - 5 (two at SR 133 at US 53, and three on Owl
Ave.)
<li>COMMON REDPOLL - 71
<li>HOARY REDPOLL - 1 (at the house with feeders on SR 29 south of
Correction Line Rd.: a larger, very white redpoll, with apparantly no
undertail streaking, a clean white rump, rather white back with brown
streaking, seen perched overhead through binoculars and seen through a
scope while under the feeders)
</ul>Don Kienholz treated us to his HOARY REDPOLL later in the
day.<br><br>
On Saturday, January 10 we drove up the relatively birdless Lake County
Road 2. Best birds were two GREAT GRAY OWLS at 7:35AM perched on a
pole and traffic sign 0.9 miles south of the Christianson Lake Road
(about eight to nine miles south of CR 15). We also had a RUFFED
GROUSE a couple of miles south of there. Along SR 1 we had a
smattering of PINE GROSBEAKS and COMMON REDPOLLS, a few GRAY JAYS and
reasonable numbers of chickadees and a few woodpeckers and nuthatches,
but the bird life was pretty slim.<br><br>
In Two Harbors on the 10th we had two NORTHERN SHRIKES, RED-BELLIED
WOODPECKERS, and plenty of Redpolls. There were no unusual ducks or
gulls (though two adult RING-BILLED GULLS) at Agate Bay while we were
there.<br><br>
We ended the day at Peavey in Superior, WI where we saw an adult, gray
morph GYRFALCON carry some wriggling prey out on the ice to devour (this
was at 4:15 to about 4:45PM). The bird flew in right over our
heads.<br><br>
We headed back south to Chicago on Sunday the 11th, visiting the NORTHERN
HAWK-OWL in Burnett County on the way back. We also made stops
south of Solon Springs in Douglas County, WI on the way to the
Hawk-Owl as well as on our way up last Thursday. This is along US
53 at CR M. One mile north of M and a mile and a half west of US 53 is
Mead Church Rd, where we had a flock of 41 SNOW BUNTINGS. Along
Flowage Road a mile and a half south of M and two miles west of US 53 we
stopped at some feeders where there were quite a few woodpeckers, jays,
etc. The Wilson's, who live on this road, reported to us that they
have PINE GROSBEAK and EVENING GROSBEAK coming to their feeders, though
not every day. We spotted 11 RED CROSSBILLS in some conifer trees
near this location, too.<br><br>
Geoff Williamson<br>
Chicago, IL<br>
geoffrey.williamson@comcast.net<br><br>
<br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Geoffrey A. Williamson<br>
geoffrey.williamson@comcast.net<br>
</html>
--=====================_9201276==_.ALT--