[mou] Duluth RBA 11/04/04

[David Benson]

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, November 4th, 2004, 
sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

Sightings of northern owls were common this week across Northeastern 
Minnesota. There were reports of 21 sightings of GREAT GRAY OWLS since 
the 30th, including, near Duluth, at Uwe Kausch's place near the jct. 
of Wildwood and Homestead Rds. on the 30th and a bird seen by Terry 
Wiens in the 5100 block of the Strand Rd. on the 1st.  Another bird was 
at Hawk Ridge on the 31st, and another was at the Two Harbors Golf 
Course. The rest of the sightings were spread across Aitkin, Lake, and 
Cook counties.

Sightings of 24 NORTHERN HAWK OWLS were reported since the 26th, 
including 4 birds seen by Sparky Stensaas today along Cty Rd 7 in the 
Sax-Zim area south of Stone Lake Rd. Tom Auer found a bird at Park 
Point in Duluth on the 29th. The largest concentration of sightings 
(14) was from the Sax-Zim area.

Kim Eckert found a WESTERN KINGBIRD behind the Coho Cafe in Cook Cty on 
the 30th. A MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD was reported from Aitkin Cty along Cty Rd 
5 south of Palisade on the 29th. A PACIFIC LOON was seen by several 
observers between the East Bay in Grand Marais and Five Mile Rock on 
the 31st and 1st.

Mike Hendrickson saw six species of gulls yesterday at the Superior 
Entry, including 2 first-winter GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS, an adult 
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, 2 THAYER'S GULLS, and an adult BONAPARTE'S 
GULL. Dedrick Benz saw a first-winter GLAUCOUS GULL  there on the 31st.

NORTHERN SHRIKES are now numerous in Northern Minnesota. Several 
observers reported seeing COMMON REDPOLLS this week, and the first 
reports of PINE GROSBEAKS were along the Gunflint Trail over the 
weekend.

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, November 
11.

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.