[mou] Northwest Minnesota Birding Report- Friday, October 1, 2004

[Jeanie Joppru]

This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Friday, October 1,
2004 sponsored by the Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce. You
may also hear this report by calling (218) 847-5743 or 1-800-433-1888.

Fall color is increasing in the northwest, but not yet at peak. Weather
forecast for the coming days will likely accelerate that, and the strong
northwest winds that are predicted for Friday will bring down migrants.
So far numbers of migrating cranes, geese, and other waterfowl have been
modest, but expect that to change very soon.

>From Douglas County, Susan Wiste reported a flock of nine AMERICAN WHITE
PELICANS on Lake Winona near Alexandria  and a number of DOUBLE-CRESTED
CORMORANTS on Lake Reno on September 24th. On the 25th, large numbers of
AMERICAN ROBINS came through.

Alma Ronningen in Otter Tail County had some new birds on the 24th also.
She reported a late RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH,
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, OVENBIRD, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, and PINE SISKIN
in the yard. September 25th, she spotted a flock of ten WILD TURKEYS; on
the 28th, there was a HARRIS'S SPARROW. A BELTED KINGFISHER was seen on
September 29th.

A Becker County sighting was called in by Karen Williams who counted no
fewer than 76 COMMON LOONS on Little McDonald Lake on September 23rd.

Bruce Flaig  reported a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER in Polk County on
September 27th. He is still seeing a pair of TRUMPETER SWANS with 4
cygnets on a lake in the southeastern part of the county. Also in Polk
County, Donna and Leon Thoreson observed RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, NASHVILLE
WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, DARK-EYED JUNCO, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW,
and HARRIS'S SPARROW.

A large NUMBER of COMMON GRACKLES, AMERICAN ROBINS, and EASTERN
BLUEBIRDS have been migrating through Pennington County in the last few
days, and on Wednesday, a small group of DARK-EYED JUNCOS and some
WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS appeared under our feeder.=20

Cliff Steinhauer reported seeing several SPRUCE GROUSE in Beltrami
County on September 30th. Other species seen there included BALD EAGLE,
and AMERICAN WOODCOCK.

>From Lake of the Woods County, the Colson family reported that the last
hummingbird left about 10 days ago. Now they are seeing more
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, and the DARK-EYED JUNCOS and PINE SISKINS
have returned. The latter are there earlier than usual this year.=20

Thanks to Karen Williams, Susan Wiste, Bruce Flaig, Donna and Leon
Thoreson, Cliff Steinhauer, the Colson family, and Alma Ronningen for
their reports.

Please report bird sightings to Jeanie Joppru by email, no later than
Thursday each week, at ajjoppru@wiktel.com OR call the Detroit Lakes
Chamber's toll free number: 1-800-542-3992. Detroit Lakes area birders
please call 847-9202. Please include the county where the sighting took
place. When reporting by email please put "NW Bird Report" in the
subject line of your message. The next scheduled update of this report
is Friday, October 8, 2004.