[mou] Duluth RBA 5/1/08

[Jim Lind]

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, May 1st, 2008 
sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

A SAY'S PHOEBE was found by Lissa Grover and Harvey Sobieck on the 
25th along the breakwall at Artist's Point in Grand Marais.  It has 
not been reported since the 25th.  Bill Stjern found a SHORT-EARED 
OWL on the 27th on the west side of the Grand Marais harbor. Another 
SHORT-EARED OWL was seen on the 29th and 30th north of Two Harbors 
along CR 12, one mile west of CR 2.

A least four RED-THROATED LOONS were found on the 29th by Kim Eckert 
and Peder Svingen at Lafayette Square on Park Point.  Mike 
Hendrickson saw three the following day near the bath house at the 
Park Point recreation area.  On the 29th Peder counted 3,416 GREATER 
SCAUP from Park Point, as well as nearly 4,000 distant unidentified 
SCAUP and 117 COMMON LOONS.  Nine LONG-TAILED DUCKS were still 
present in Two Harbors on the 28th at Burlington Bay.

Cold temperatures, rain and snow appeared to trigger reverse 
migration for several species along the North Shore on the 26th and 
27th.  Many observers reported large numbers of YELLOW-RUMPED 
WARBLERS, TREE SWALLOWS, HERMIT THRUSHES, and both species of 
YELLOWLEGS flying southwest along the lakeshore.  PINE WARBLERS are 
relatively rare migrants in northeast Minnesota but single birds were 
seen at bird feeders at many locations, including Two Harbors on the 
26th, Duluth and Knife River on the 27th, and Tower on the 28th.  
Many flocks of RUSTY BLACKBIRDS were also seen over the weekend, 
including at least 250 in one yard in Two Harbors on the 26th.  Peder 
Svingen found a total of 274 HERMIT THRUSH and 192 FOX SPARROWS on 
the 27th at several spots in Duluth, as well as a VESPER SPARROW near 
the Park Point rowing club.

Sally Stout found a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE at Stoney Point on the 27th 
at 1313 Stoney Point Drive.  Shawn Zierman briefly had a RED-BELLIED 
WOODPECKER in his yard in Morgan Park in west Duluth on the 25th, as 
well as a small flock of EVENING GROSBEAKS.  Jan Green reported small 
numbers of EVENING GROSBEAKS in Duluth Township on the 29th near the 
south end of the Homestead Road (CR 42).

Five TRUMPETER SWANS were seen at Gooseberry State Park on the 29th.  
A MARSH WREN was seen on the 29th at the Flood Bay wayside rest 
northeast of Two Harbors.

A ROSS'S GOOSE was found by Deb Falkowski on the 25th at the Mesabi 
Range College ball fields in Virginia, and the bird was still present 
on the 28th.  Earl Orf found a WILLET in Itasca County on the 1st 
along CR 10 just south of the Trout Lake Community Center.

The WHITE-WINGED DOVE at a private residence near Lutsen, Cook County 
was last seen on the 22nd.

Recent new arrivals in the area include BARN SWALLOW, CLIFF SWALLOW, 
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, PALM WARBLER and CHIPPING SPARROW on the 
26th, DUNLIN and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW on the 27th, SOLITARY 
SANDPIPER and BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER on the 29th, LINCOLN'S SPARROW 
on the 30th, and BONAPARTE'S GULLS on the 1st.

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, May 
8th.

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, e-mail 
us at mou at moumn.org, or visit the MOU web site at moumn.org.