[mou] Duluth RBA 4/20/05

[Jim Lind]

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Wednesday, April 20th, 
sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

The exceptional sightings from Aitkin County continued this week with 
the discovery of a GLOSSY IBIS by Steve and Jo Blanich on the 19th.  
>From Minnesota Highway 210 on the west side of the town of Aitkin, go 
north on 7th Avenue NW for three blocks, then turn west and go about 
2.4 to 2.6 miles on County Road 15 to the flooded fields on the north 
side of the road.  The bird was seen by several observers throughout 
the day.  

At the same location, a GREAT EGRET was also seen today, and a CATTLE 
EGRET and a flock of 41 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS were here on the 
16th.  A HUDSONIAN GODWIT was found today along County Road 15 about 
two miles west of the ibis location, with a mixed flock of GREATER 
and LESSER YELLOWLEGS and PECTORAL SANDPIPERS.  

A LONG-BILLED CURLEW was found west of McGregor in Aitkin County on 
the 16th by Kim and Cindy Risen and Warren Nelson.  It was last seen 
on the 18th on the west side of County Road 5, about 7/10 of a mile 
north of Minnesota Highway 210.

A EURASIAN TREE SPARROW was seen in Schroeder, Cook County on the 
16th by Carol Tveekrem, although the bird has not been relocated.

New spring arrivals seen recently in the area include BROAD-WINGED 
HAWK and CHIPPING SPARROW on the 16th, AMERICAN BITTERN on the 17th, 
BONAPARTE'S GULL, PURPLE MARTIN and VESPER SPARROW on the 18th, and 
NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW and BREWER'S BLACKBIRD today.

A flock of 63 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS was seen at the West Skyline 
Hawk Count on the 16th, as well as a GOLDEN EAGLE today.  A flock of 
30 LONG-TAILED DUCKS was seen in Two Harbors on 16th, and a flock of 
12 on the 19th at Flood Bay.  The HARLEQUIN DUCK and WHITE-WINGED 
SCOTER in the Duluth harbor were still present as of April 14th near 
the Park Point rowing club.  EVENING GROSBEAKS were seen in the 
Pequaywan Bog on St. Louis County Road 44 on the 15th.

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, April 
28.

The new telephone number of the Duluth Rare Bird Alert is 218-834-
2858.  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.