[mou] Duluth sightings

[Dennis/Barbara Martin]

Tried to bird in the Duluth area for the past couple of days.  Rain
certainly does get in the way.

The ball fields at Park Point were seriously flooded.  Water was even
covering part of the road in that area but that will clear up very soon.  On
Tuesday morning between the rain storms we had golden and black-bellied
plovers, pectoral sandpipers, Sanderlings, and a couple of Dunlin for the
shorebird list, and a juvenile Thayers Gull and many Bonaparte's among the
many herring and ring-billeds for the gull list.  On  the lake side a jaeger
came directly in on us.  It came so fast and since it was coming directly at
us we did a poor job of figuring out what kind of jaeger.  It was over the
trees of Park Point and out of sight before we could catch our breath so it
will stay as a species sighting.  What seemed like 30 mile an hour tail
winds can certainly make these guys fly fast.

With our hotel having a fire on Tues afternoon (water shorted out the
electricity) and out new hotel losing its electricity, along with the entire
London Rd. area,  on Wednesday morning we decided it was time to leave
Duluth early and come home before anything else happened.  The birding was
probably pretty good after the rain ended this PM since we were gone.

Dennis and Barbara Martin
dbmartin@skypoint.com