[mou] Northwest Minnesota Birding Report- Thursday, March 13, 2008

[Jeanie Joppru]

-RBA
*Minnesota
*Detroit Lakes
*March 13, 2008
*MNDL0803.13

-Birds mentioned
Gray Partridge
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle
American Kestrel
Great Horned Owl
Snowy Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Common Raven
Horned Lark
American Robin
Bohemian Waxwing
Dark-eyed Junco
Lapland Longspur
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
Pine Grosbeak
Hoary Redpoll
-Transcript

Hotline: Minnesota, Detroit Lakes
Date: March 13, 2008
Sponsor: Lakes Area Birding Club, Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce
Reports: 1-800-542-3992 (weekdays during business hours)
Compiler: Jeanie Joppru (ajjoppru at wiktel.com)

This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Thursday, March 13,
2008 sponsored by the Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce. You
may also hear this report by calling (218)847-5743 or 1-800-433-1888.

As of this writing, it seems spring has suddenly arrived in northwest
Minnesota. Migration is beginning and we are getting frequent reports of
vocalizing owls, migrating Horned Larks, and the start of the raptor
migration. On Thursday afternoon, the locally breeding Horned Larks
appeared on our road, and some rain fell for the first time this spring.

Ron Erpelding and Herb Dingmann found BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS in Becker County
at Ogema, and Mahnomen County at Mahnomen on March 8. On March 9,
BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were seen in Marshall County at Middle River, Kittson
County at Lancaster, and Roseau County at Greenbush. The birds are
cleaning up the rest of the ornamental crabapples that have stayed on
the trees throughout the winter.

>From Becker County, Kay Hartness reported that she has 2-3 NORTHERN
CARDINALS coming to her feeder along the Pelican River.

Ron Erpelding and Herb Dingmann observed a GOLDEN EAGLE along MN 32 a
half mile south of Ulen in Clay County on March 10.

In Norman County on March 10, they reported one GRAY PARTRIDGE on the
east side of MN 32 near 280th Ave, a COMMON RAVEN near the Gary Pines,
and SHARP-TAILED GROUSE north of CR 23.

A GREAT HORNED OWL was seen in Mahnomen County on March 8.

Nate Emery reported from Polk County that on March 10 he saw a GOLDEN
EAGLE a mile west of CR 44 and 7 miles south of US 2. A possible HOARY
REDPOLL was seen at Rydell NWR, and a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was also seen a
half mile east of CR 44 north of US 2. On March 11, he reported a
NORTHERN HARRIER along CR 45 two miles west of MN 32. On March 6, Adele
Rosencrans was surprised when a SNOWY OWL flushed along CR 23 about two
miles northeast of Melo Church in the northwestern part of the county.

Two GREAT HORNED OWLS were found by Ron Erpelding and Herb Dingmann in
Red Lake County on March 9. One was west of Plummer on 195th Ave SE and
one was north of Plummer along US 59.

On March 9, a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK was seen in downtown Thief River Falls
in Pennington County. Ron and Herb found a GREAT HORNED OWL just south
of CR 3 along US 59 on March 9, and , on March 10, they saw 16
SHARP-TAILED GROUSE on a lek north of CR 2 west of 220 Ave SE.

In Marshall County on the afternoon of March 9, there were 7 GRAY
PARTRIDGE north of 280 St NW on the east side of US 75 about 5 miles
north of Warren. A SHARP-SHINNED HAWK and DARK-EYED JUNCO were spotted
in Warren, and a single LAPLAND LONGSPUR in a flock of HORNED LARKS were
seen near Kennedy. Gary Tischer of Agassiz NWR reported that on March 13
two pairs of BALD EAGLES were seen on the refuge, and Greg Knutsen
spotted the first AMERICAN KESTREL of the spring on South Pool.

Kelly Larson reported a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL at her feeder in
Clearwater County near Bagley on March 6.

Larry Wilebski reported GRAY PARTRIDGE at his cabin near Lancaster on
March 9. Other species seen on that day in Kittson County included both
nuthatches, AMERICAN ROBIN, COMMON GRACKLE, and PINE GROSBEAK.

Besides the BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS seen in Greenbush, several HORNED LARKS
were also seen in Roseau County on March 9.

Thanks to Adele Rosencrans, Gary Tischer, Greg Knutsen, Kelly Larson,
Larry Wilebski, Nate Emery, Ron Erpelding, and Herb Dingmann for their
reports.

Please report bird sightings to Jeanie Joppru by email, no later than
Thursday each week, at ajjoppru at wiktel.com OR call the Detroit Lakes
Chamber's toll free number: 1-800-542-3992. Detroit Lakes area birders
please call 847-9202. Please include the county where the sighting took
place. The next scheduled update of this report is Thursday, March 20,
2008.


Jeanie Joppru
Pennington County, MN


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