Common Eider in St. Louis County
2014-11-10

'Accidental' in Minnesota - Five or fewer records in St. Louis County for the Fall season

One of two female/immature Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima) found by Karl Bardon this afternoon at Brighton Beach, Duluth. They flew west towards downtown Duluth and were refound by Mike Hendrickson about 50 minutes later at Glensheen Historic Mansion. Shortly after 2:30 PM, they took off again and flew farther west. An organized search (during a winter storm!) was successful when Lars Benson, Clinton Nienhaus, and Mike spotted them along the Lakewalk at 21st Ave East. They continued to slowly swim west along the Lakewalk, and occasionally spread their wings and dove for food with some success. We lost sight of them near the Leif Erickson Park pavilion at approximately 3:10 PM. Some of us then looked for them between Leif Erikson Park and Canal Park without success. As mentioned by Anthony Hertzel in his posting to MOU-net, this species was last reported in Minnesota in 1966! Three of the four accepted records are specimens of birds shot by hunters. Kudos to Karl Bardon for another outstanding find!

Peder H. Svingen