[mou] Incredible birding weekend; >200 Great Grays in one day

[Andy Jones]

Synopsis:

5 birders (from Minnesota and Kansas) spent 72 hours birding within a 
few hours of Duluth and found an incredible 226 Great Gray Owls in 7.5 
hours of birding, as well as most of the sought-after winter 
specialties, including Two Harbors' Boreal Owl.

The details:

Observers: Brian Barber, Brett Benz, Muir Eaton, Andy Jones, and Mark 
Robbins.  Benz, Eaton, and Robbins came up from Kansas; Barber and Jones 
are from the Twin Cities.

Harlequin Duck - pair still present in Two Harbors - 28 Jan - also 
present are one female Bufflehead and four Common Goldeneye

Northern Goshawk - 1 in Sax-Zim 28 January, 1 on Co Rd 2 in Lake Co on 
29 January, 1 in Aitkin Co on 30 January

Great Gray Owl -
	2 in Duluth city limits at dusk - 27 Jan
	1 in woods below Boreal Owl site in Two Harbors - 28 Jan
	226 in Aitkin and Pine Co on 30 Jan; see bottom of e-mail

Northern Hawk-Owl -
	1 in Duluth city limits at dusk - 27 Jan
	2 in Sax-Zim - 28 Jan
	1 in Duluth - jct McFarlane and Blackman Aves 29 Jan
	5 in Aitkin Co 30 Jan

Boreal Owl - 1 in alley by high school in Two Harbors; not seen until it 
became dark and the bird emerged from the evergreens below the one 
street light and flew up into the neighborhood.  Jim Lind helped us 
relocate it hunting in the front yard of the blue house which has the 
street light behind it; the bird was hunting while perched low in a 
deciduous tree.

American Three-toed Woodpecker - at McDavitt Rd on 28 January, showed to 
us by the group from Indiana.

Bohemian Waxwings - several flocks at dusk on Co Rd 256 in St. Louis Co 
29 January

Northern Shrike - 1 at Park Point in Duluth and 1 at St. Scholastica in 
Duluth on 29 January
	8 in Aitkin and Pine Co on 30 January

Boreal Chickadee - several flocks in Sax-Zim 28 Jan

Pine Grosbeak - most common in Sax-Zim

Common Redpoll - common at feeders everywhere

Red-winged Blackbird - 1 in Two Harbors 29 January

Snow Bunting - at least two at Park Point 29 January

	More on those Great Gray Owls - we began seeing Great Grays along Hwy 
210 east of McGregor in Aitkin County as soon as it was light enough to 
see.
	37 had been seen by 8am moving west on 210
	63 by the time we hit Palisade at 8:40
	84 by 10:30 after going south on 169 and then Co 3
	115 by 11:15 going south on 65
	150 by 11:55 - very large concentrations along 65 south of McGregor
	155 by 12:00

	226 total seen by 4pm, with 71 in Pine Co and 155 in Aitkin

	Note also that we found three dead Great Grays - one roadkill in Aitkin 
Co and two shot with high-powered rifles near Sandstone.

E-mail me if you need more specific directions to any of these birds!

Andy

-- 
Andy Jones
Bell Museum of Natural History
Dept. of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
University of Minnesota
jone0597@tc.umn.edu