[mou] Duluth RBA 2/3/05

[David Benson]

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, February 3, 2005, 
sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

The unprecedented owl irruption continues across northern Minnesota. 
The highest concentrations of GREAT GRAY OWLS during the past week were 
seen in northern Aitkin Cty, where one group saw 187 birds in a day and 
another saw 114 birds in 4.5 hours on the 29th. On the 30th, a group 
from North Dakota saw 72 Great Grays in one hour. One of the many roads 
with a high concentration of owls was Cty Rd 5 south of Hwy 210.

NORTHERN HAWK OWLS also continue to be common in northeastern 
Minnesota. On the 30th, Bob Tolles saw a bird along Interstate 35 north 
of the jct. with Hwy 210 that was visible from the casino parking lot.

A SNOWY OWL was again seen at the Duluth International Airport last 
weekend. Birders who tried to bird along Stebner Rd were turned away by 
law enforcement, so it is advised that you try to see the bird from the 
observation area inside the terminal. So far as I know, no one has 
looked for the Snowy Owls in Proctor at the railroad yards in recent 
weeks.

Barb Adams found a dead BOREAL OWL along Garden St in Duluth. A 
NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL was seen in Two Harbors near the lighthouse on 
the 30th.

A TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE was seen again this week in the Lakeside 
neighborhood of Duluth at 40th Ave East and Cooke St. The HARLEQUIN 
DUCKS are still around the breakwater at Agate Bay in Two Harbors, and 
the GADWALL was seen again this week with the Mallards and Black Ducks 
at the corner of the lake in Canal Park.

A THREE-TOED WOODPECKER was seen again on the 28th, and at least two 
BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS were seen later in the week on the footpath 
that leads west off McDavitt Rd, 2.6 miles north of the Sax Rd. A flock 
of about 75 SNOW BUNTINGS was along St. Louis Cty Rd 7 just south of 
the Sax Rd on the 28th.

Dean Riemer of North Dakota reported a GLAUCOUS GULL at Two Harbors on 
the 29th.

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, February 
10.

The telephone number of the Duluth Rare Bird Alert is 218-728-5030. 
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.