[mou] Northwest Minnesota Birding Report- Friday, October 22, 2004

[Jeanie Joppru]

This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Friday, October 22,
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.

Now that the leaves are down in northwestern Minnesota, birds are more
easy to see on the bare branches, even if there are fewer to see. Now is
a good time to note the locations of bird nests, some of which can be
identified as to species, some just in a general way. This will give us
an idea where to search for nesting birds next spring- particularly for
the larger species.

Some interesting sightings were reported by Heidi Hughes from Lake of
the Woods County. Owls were the big story in her report. A NORTHERN HAWK
OWL was found on October 14th 6 miles south of Baudette along state
Highway 72. A GREAT GRAY OWL was seen on October 15th across the street
from the new convenience store at Angle Inlet. Another was found at
Jake's NW Angle Resort. On the 19th, there were further reports of GREAT
GRAY OWLS  at the Angle. This bodes well for owl sightings this winter.
Other interesting sightings on the weekend in Lake of the Woods County
included BALD EAGLE, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, NORTHERN
SHRIKE, COMMON RAVEN, GRAY JAY, TREE SPARROW, SNOW BUNTING, PINE SISKIN,
and EVENING GROSBEAK.

Another GREAT GRAY OWL was seen on the weekend three miles west of the
Warroad customs point in Roseau County.

Large numbers of CANADA GEESE, CACKLING GEESE, AMERICAN COOTS, DARK-EYED
JUNCOS, and many species of sparrows are migrating through Pennington
County this week. Shelley Steva observed a flock of over five hundred
blackbirds, mostly COMMON GRACKLES and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS on October
20th near Thief River Falls.

There were sixty-one TUNDRA SWANS among the CANADA GEESE and CACKLING
GEESE at the Crookston wastewater treatment ponds on October 17th and
they were joined by some SNOW GEESE on October 21st. Also present were
two BALD EAGLES,  of which one adult put on a clinic on how to hunt
waterfowl, making repeated passes over the heads of swimming birds who
rapidly dove when the eagle was just overhead. Several AMERICAN PIPITS
and HARRIS'S SPARROWS were also seen at this location. On October 21st,
nine species of shorebirds including five BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, ONE
KILLDEER, five GREATER YELLOWLEGS, two LESSER YELLOWLEGS, twenty-one
PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, eight DUNLIN, five LEAST SANDPIPERS, two
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, and five LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS were there.=20

Pat DeWenter reported from Beltrami County on October 15th  that she had
quite a number of RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES in the yard along with FOX
SPARROW, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, and DARK-EYED JUNCOS at the feeders. On
the 17th, the first TREE SPARROW showed up. Pat Rice found over 100
HOODED MERGANSERS, 75 RING-NECKED DUCKS, a few MALLARDS, and some WOOD
DUCKS on a small pond along CR 27 on October 20th.

A GOLDEN EAGLE was spotted by Peder Svingen at Felton Prairie in Clay
County on October 21st. A flock of CACKLING GEESE were also at the
gravel pit at the north end of Felton Prairie. Matt Mecklenburg reported
a light phase ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK at Bluestem Prairie on the 21st. He also
saw a small flock of SNOW BUNTINGS and some HARRIS'S SPARROWS in Clay
County this week.

Bill Unzen visited the Breckenridge wastewater treatment ponds on
October 17th where he found GRAY PARTRIDGE, EARED GREBE, and about 250
SNOW BUNTINGS flying nearby. Also in the county were AMERICAN GOLDEN
PLOVER, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, COMMON SNIPE, AMERICAN PIPIT, and a flock
of 650-700 LAPLAND LONGSPURS.

Susan Wiste reported large numbers of AMERICAN ROBINS migrating through
Douglas County on October 19th.

Thanks to Pat DeWenter, Heidi Hughes, Bill Unzen, Pat Rice, Matt
Mecklenburg, Peder Svingen, Shelley Steva, and Susan Wiste 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 29, 2004.