[mou] Duluth RBA 7/8/04

[David Benson]

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

An extremely late alternate-plumage RED-THROATED LOON was reported off 
Park Point on the 3rd. It was seen from the boardwalk nearest the 
airport buildings.

An out-of-town birder found a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD on the Gunflint 
Trail on July 3rd. The bird was seen in an open area along the Gunflint 
where it crosses Seagull Creek, about a mile-and-a-half from Seagull 
Lake.

Another visiting birder found a pair of BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS at the 
Rabey Tree Farm in Aitkin Cty on the 3rd. If these birds are nesting, 
this would be an unusual breeding record for Aitkin Cty. The Rabey Tree 
Farm is on Hwy 200, ten miles east of Hill City or six miles west of 
Jacobson.

Most unusual was the report of a WOOD STORK that was seen near Grand 
Marais in June. A story about the bird, whose presence was not revealed 
to birders at the time, appeared in a Grand Marais newspaper this week.

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

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