[mou] Duluth RBA 12/8/05

[Jim Lind]

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

Four owl species were seen in the Sax-Zim bog on December 3rd by Doug 
Kieser, Jim Otto, and Scott Meyer.  They found a NORTHERN HAWK OWL 
along the Stone Lake Road (CR 319), 0.25 mile east of County Road 7, 
and another along the Arkola Road (CR 52) 0.1 mile west of the 
Stickney Road (CR 207).  Two GREAT GRAY OWLS were along the McDavitt 
Road (CR 213), about three miles north of the Sax Road (CR 28), and a 
SNOWY OWL was seen along the Arkola Road (CR 52), two miles west of 
County Road 7.  They also saw a GREAT HORNED OWL on Owl Avenue (CR 
202) just north of the Overton Road.

A GREAT GRAY OWL was seen in the Brimson area on the 5th, along the 
Pequaywan Lake Road (CR 44) near the junction of the North Bear Lake 
Road.  Karen and Gerald Rona reported seeing a Great Gray in their 
yard near the junction of the Canosia Road (CR 98) and Old US Highway 
2.

A SNOWY OWL was seen on the west side of the Duluth airport on the 
6th and relocated on the 7th.  It was just south of the Fed Ex 
building along Airport Approach Road, which can be reached by turning 
north off US Highway 53 at Stebner Road.  Dave Evans reports at least 
two Snowy Owls in the past week in the Duluth harbor, one in the Port 
Terminal area and one near the ore docks near 30th Avenue West.  
Three Snowys have also been seen near Murphy Oil in Superior.

Warren Lind saw two Snowy Owls on Northshore Mining property in 
Silver Bay on the 21st, between the taconite plant and Lake Superior. 
 Although they would be difficult to see from Highway 61, they might 
be visible with a scope from the Silver Bay marina, or from the 
city's scenic overlook off Outer Drive (CR 5) in Silver Bay.  Warren 
also saw a late COMMON LOON in the harbor at Northshore Mining today, 
which should be visible from the Silver Bay marina.

A male HARLEQUIN DUCK was seen on December 3rd at Lighthouse Point in 
downtown Two Harbors.  It was close to shore along the gravel hiking 
trail on the east side of the lighthouse.  This may be the same 
individual reported from the Knife River marina on the 1st.  Late-
lingering COMMON LOON, HORNED GREBE, and RED-NECKED GREBES were also 
still present on the 3rd at Agate Bay in Two Harbors.

The Duluth Christmas Bird Count will be held on Saturday, December 
17, 2005.  Anyone interested in participating should contact compiler 
Jim Lind at (218) 834-3199 or by e-mail at (jslind@frontiernet.net) 
for more information.  

The Two Harbors Christmas Bird Count will be held the following day 
on Sunday, December 18, 2005.  Please contact compiler Frank 
Nicoletti (bjboreal@aol.com) if interested in participating.

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

The 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 moumn.org.