[mou] Duluth RBA 1/12/06

[Jim Lind]

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, January 12th, 2006 
sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

Two TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES were found today by Peg Robertson in Cook 
County at the Tofte Town Park south of Highway 61, where Peg had 
found one last week.  About 100 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were also seen in 
Tofte today.  Chris Elmgren relocated the VARIED THRUSH on the UMD 
campus today in the crab apple trees along St. Marie Street just west 
of Oakland Avenue.  It was also seen by Kim Eckert and others on the 
7th with a flock of AMERICAN ROBINS.

Kim Eckert's group found two SPRUCE GROUSE on the 8th along Lake 
County Road 2, 1.2 miles north of the Sand River.  They also found 
RED CROSSBILLS along CR 2 on the 8th, about a mile south of MN 1, and 
one BOHEMIAN WAXWING in a flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS at South Avenue and 
3rd Street in Two Harbors.  On the 7th, Kim's group found two LONG-
TAILED DUCKS on Lake Superior out from the Lakewood Road (CR 692), 
two adult GLAUCOUS GULLS and a second-winter THAYER'S GULL at Canal 
Park in Duluth, two BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS in the Sax-Zim bog along 
the McDavitt Road (CR 213) 2.5 miles north of the Sax Road (CR 28), 
and a HORNED LARK along CR 7, 2 miles south of the Stone Lake Road 
(CR 319).

Several groups reported NORTHERN HAWK OWLS in the Sax-Zim bog over 
the past week; one along the Stone Lake Road (CR 319) and another 
along the McDavitt Road (CR 213) just north of the railroad tracks.  
Cindy Risen and Mike Hendrickson reported a NORTHERN HAWK OWL on the 
9th in Aitkin County 3 miles north of Tamarack along Kestrel Avenue 
(CR 31), and a SNOWY OWL 0.5 to 1 mile south of Tamarack on Kestrel 
Avenue (CR 16).  

Shawn Conrad saw a SNOWY OWL south of Palisade on the 7th along 450th 
Street 2 miles west of CR 5, and a flock of about 200 BOHEMIAN 
WAXWINGS at the county garage along CR 5 just south of Palisade.  
Shawn also relocated the NORTHERN HAWK OWL north of Chisholm on the 
6th at MN Highway 73 and Lake Road.

Audrey Evers reported a NORTHERN HAWK OWL on the 10th along CR 110, 8 
miles south of Hoyt Lakes, or 5.2 miles north of CR 16.  Audrey also 
saw a GREAT GRAY OWL on the 11th at Whitewater Lake in Hoyt Lakes.

Jan and John Green have an adult SHARP-SHINNED HAWK overwintering in 
their neighborhood along Old North Shore Road (CR 290), between the 
Sucker River and the Berquist Road (CR 258).

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, January 
19th.

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.