[mou] update to: northeastern MN birding report

[Wolf Oesterreich]

We spent Monday morning looking for a couple of missed species before =
heading back home to central Iowa.  The highlights are below:

Sharp-tailed Grouse:  We visited the location (between 0700 and 0730) =
mentioned by Kim Eckert in Aitkin County (.4-mile south of Tamarack on =
Co-16 / Kestrel) and didn't find any grouse.  Did hear at least 1 Lapland =
Longspur.  Then we checked out the area north of Tamarack.  Based on the =
description, we weren't sure if the location was 1.6 miles north of =
Tamarack along Co-31 / Kestrel (habitat didn't look right) or 1.6 miles =
north of the Goshawk-Kestrel intersection along Co-31 / Kestrel (habitat =
appeared to look right).  We didn't find any birds at either spot.  We =
returned to the location south of Tamarack, at 0805, and immediately found =
2 males perched on separate hay "rolls".  Within minutes 6 more arrived =
and landed on the ground.  Soon they were joined by the original 2 and =
began displaying.  By 0820, they had all flown off.

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch:  We revisited the Fon-Du-Lac Conservation =
Department building (Carlton Co.) in order to see the finches again.  We =
didn't see any at 0858 and left at 0910.  We returned at 1205 and 2 =
finches were present.  The third showed up within a minute of our arrival. =
 We left at 1214, when the finches flew off.

Northern Hawk-Owl: We arrived at 1015 at the area (St. Louis Co.) reported =
by Mike Hendrickson on the 14th.  We didn't find the bird at first so we =
decided to drive up and down Co-4 / Rice Lake Rd.  We didn't have to go =
far!  The bird was perched at the top of a small tree (at 1044), just past =
the major power line that crosses the highway to the north.  The bird was =
on the east side of the road.  After a couple of minutes the owl flew to =
the second utility pole (in front of Northstar Flooring), west of the of =
road.  Then the owl flew to the top of a tree in a line of trees located =
along the north side of the driveway to Coffee Cabin and storage units.

Addendum to original posting:  The Black-"bellied" Woodpecker should have =
been listed as Black-backed Woodpecker.

We enjoyed our trip to northeastern Minnesota and ended the trip with 54 =
species, including 16 Lifers for our Polish friend.  Thanks for the decent =
weather (as we managed to miss the snow storm in central Iowa!).

Wolfgang Oesterreich (Ames)=20
Jeff Nichols & Mary Doud (Boone County)=20
Jacek Niemiec (Krakow, Poland, temporarily in Ames)=20
Kelly Weichers (Roland)