[mou] Duluth RBA 12/22/05

[Jim Lind]

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, December 22nd, 
sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

Three GLAUCOUS GULLS were found by Peder Svingen on the 19th at Canal 
Park.  The VARIED THRUSH found on the UMD campus on the 17th was 
relocated on 19th in the crab apple trees on the south side of St. 
Marie Street, just west of Oakland Street.

SNOWY OWLS were reported from several new locations over the past 
week.  One was seen as recently as today in Aitkin County by Kim and 
Cindy Risen along Kestrel Avenue (CR 16) about 0.75 mile south of 
Tamarack.  Another was seen about two miles southwest of here along 
420th Street.  In Lake County, Warren Lind found one on the 19th at 
the junction of Highway 61 and CR 3 near the mouth of the Stewart 
River.  Possibly the same bird was seen the next day on the 20th in 
downtown Two Harbors near the historic trains.  And on the 21st Mike 
Furtman found one on the UMD campus, near Rock Pond and the Bagley 
Nature Area, off St. Marie Street.

Kim Risen found a NORTHERN HAWK OWL in Aitkin County on the 21st 
along 420th Street, one mile west of Kestrel Avenue (CR 16).  Nick 
Anich found one in St. Louis County on the 21st along US Highway 53, 
just south of Canyon, and he and others relocated one along the Stone 
Lake Road (CR 319) in the Sax-Zim bog.  Nick also found several 
BOREAL CHICKADEES along the Blue Spruce Road (CR 211), north of CR 
133.  A GREAT GRAY OWL was found by Jen Vieth on the 17th along Owl 
Avenue.  EVENING GROSBEAKS have been seen recently at the east end of 
the Stone Lake Road.

Twenty-seven species were found on the Sax-Zim CBC on the 19th.  
Highlights included three BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS, 14 BLACK-BILLED 
MAGPIES, 44 SNOW BUNTINGS, and 11 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS.  No owls were 
seen on count day.  The Black-backed Woodpeckers were found along the 
McDavitt Road (CR 213) about two miles north of the Sax Road (CR 28), 
and along the Admiral Road (CR 788) just south of the gravel pit on 
the northern portion of the road.

Thirty-five species were seen on the Carlton County CBC on the 18th, 
including AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, GRAY JAY, three NORTHERN GOSHAWKS, 
and RUSTY BLACKBIRD.

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, 
December 29th.

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.