[mou] Gyfalcon, etc. at Superior Entry

[Peder Svingen]

The juvenile gray-morph Gyrfalcon found by the North Dakota Birding 
Society on the first day of their fall trip to Duluth was observed for 
about 15 minutes before it disappeared. It was initially found perched 
on the cement wall at the south end of Minnesota Point. Remaining on 
the Minnesota side of the Superior Entry, it then flew to the rocks on 
the breakwater and perched again. Though relatively early, there are 
several previous September records for Minnesota as follows:
16 Sep 1971 Duluth (Loon 44:12)
19 Sep 1976 Duluth (Loon 49:142)
21 Sep 1981 Hawk Ridge (Loon 54:119)
22 Sep 1971 Nobles County (Loon 44:12)
24 Sep 1990 Hawk Ridge (Loon 63:119)

In addition to the birds mentioned below, we also found an adult 
Red-throated Loon at Wisconsin Point (Wisconsin waters only) and 2 
Short-eared Owls in flight on both sides of the Superior Entry at 5:10 
PM. The juvenile Parasitic Jaeger was seen from the first pullout on 
Wisconsin Point and put on quite a show as it harassed Ring-billed 
Gulls.

Thanks to Jim Lind for posting on our behalf.
--
Peder H. Svingen
Duluth, MN

On Sep 28, 2007, at 5:27 PM, Jim Lind wrote:

> Peder Svingen called to report a Gyrfalcon perched on the rocks on
> the Minnesota side of the Superior Entry at about 4:00 pm.  Also seen
> on the Minnesota side was an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.  A
> juvenile Parasitic Jaeger was seen in Wisconsin waters.  All of these
> observations were made from the north end of Wisconsin Point by Peder
> and a group of North Dakota birders.
>
> Peder also had a second-hand report of a Prairie Falcon observed by a
> reliable observer just east of Duluth this morning.  As of early
> afternoon it had not been seen at Hawk Ridge.
>
> Also seen in Duluth earlier today was a Black Scoter on the bay side
> of the Sky Harbor Airport, and two Boreal Chickadees and three
> Sandhill Cranes at the Hawk Ridge main overlook.
>
> Jim Lind