Duluth RBA
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-RBA *Minnesota *Duluth/North Shore *April 27, 2000 *MNDU0004.27 -Birds mentioned
Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: April 27, 2000
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 525-5952
Compiler: David Benson (drbenson@cpinternet.com)
Transcriber: David Benson (drbenson@cpinternet.com)
Re-transcriber: David Cahlander (dac@skypoint.com)
This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, April 27th sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.
The spring migration has picked up steam this week, including the first reports of these species: BONAPARTE'S GULL, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, CLIFF SWALLOW, and BARN SWALLOW.
Frank Nicoletti had a busy week at his perch near Enger Tower in Duluth where he is conducting the annual spring hawk count. He saw SANDHILL CRANES on three different days this week, and AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS on five different days, including a flock of 75 birds on the 26th. COMMON LOONS were passing through on several days, as well as hundreds of DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS.
The raptor flight has been good all week, including 1231 birds on the 24th (867 BROAD-WINGED HAWKS ) and 1277 on the 26th (1089 BROAD-WINGED HAWKS ). Frank's total through the 26th is over 14,000 birds, which makes this a very large spring count already. The total includes almost 6,000 RED-TAILED HAWKS, 3,000 BROAD-WINGED HAWKS , and almost 3,000 BALD EAGLES.
Erin Hedeen reported a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER from County Road 6 near Little Marais. Alison Clarke reported a possible TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE in Duluth on the 23rd, and Lynelle Hanson reported a probable YELLOWLEGS also on the 23rd. Nancy Jackson reported MERLINS nesting at Fisherman's Point in Hoyt Lakes, and Bill Berg reported a nest in the Hunter's Park Neighborhood of Duluth. Mike Hendrickson saw large numbers of both PURPLE FINCH and EVENING GROSBEAK. He also has a NORTHERN CARDINAL in his yard consistently.
The annual St Louis County Big Day and Hawk Ridge Birdathon will be held on
Saturday, May 20. This is one of the highlights of the Minnesota birding
year and lots of fun for birders of all abilities. For more information on
this important fund-raising activity for the benefit of Hawk Ridge, call
Terry Wiens at 525-6158, or e-mail him at
The Duluth Audubon Society is sponsoring a series of Free Family Birding
Hikes on Tuesday evenings, including next Tuesday, May 2nd at 6:30 p.m. at
Hawk Ridge.
The next field trip of my bird identification class will be on Saturday,
April 29th, meeting at 8:30 AM at the Endion Station visitors information
building near Canal Park. There will also be a trip on Tuesday, May 2nd at
8:30 am, and Thursday, May 4th at 6:00 pm. For more information about any
of these opportunities, call me,Dave Benson, at 728-5812.
Unless something unusual is seen in the meantime which needs to be reported
immediately, the Duluth Birding Report is normally updated once a week on
Thursdays, so that the next scheduled update will be on May 4th. The
phone number is (218) 525-5952, and callers can leave a message if they
wish after the tone at the end of the tape. Also note that a message can
be left without having to wait for the birding report to end: after the
tape starts playing, push 5 on a touch-tone phone, the tape will then stop,
the tone will sound and you can leave your message.
The Duluth Birding Report is sponsored and funded by the Minnesota
Ornithologists' Union (MOU), the state bird club, as a service to its
members. For more information on the MOU, either write us c/o the Bell
Museum of Natural History, 10 Church Street S E, Minneapolis MN 55455, or
visit the MOU web site at
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