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-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*September 17, 2000
*MNDU0009.17

-Birds mentioned

• Western Grebe
• Great Egret
• Broad-winged Hawk
• Golden Eagle
• Buff-breasted Sandpiper
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• (species) Jaeger
• Short-eared Owl
• Black-backed Woodpecker
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• Le Conte's Sparrow
• Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: September 17, 2000
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 525-5952
Compiler: Kim Eckert (kreckert@cp.duluth.mn.us)
Transcriber: Kim Eckert (kreckert@cp.duluth.mn.us)
Re-transcriber: David Cahlander (dac@skypoint.com)

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Sunday, Sept 17, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

As mentioned on last Thursday's Birding Report, there would be an update of this report today if some birds of interest turned up with all the birders in town during Hawk Weekend, and that was the case with sightings of WESTERN GREBES, GREAT EGRET, GOLDEN EAGLE, BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS, a JAEGER, SHORT-EARED OWL, BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW, and LE CONTE'S SPARROWS.

There were 2 Western Grebes reported on the lake side of the Park Point Recreation Area yesterday morning, although there were no further reports of them yesterday afternoon or today. The Great Egret was seen this morning as it flew over the Lakewood Pumping Station.

The raptor flight the past few days at Hawk Ridge has been mixed. Today a couple thousand hawks flew over, most of these in the late morning when over 1,000 BROAD-WINGED HAWKS were counted. Yesterday the flight was slow with a total of only about 300. On Friday the 15th, there was a residual flight of Broad-wingeds in the morning after the big flight of over 22,000 the previous day, but the highlight of the day was a very early Golden Eagle, which was only 2 days short of being a record early date at Hawk Ridge.

Buff-breasted Sandpipers and a jaeger were seen both yesterday and today at the Park Point Recreation Area. The Buff-breasteds were on the ballfield, and the jaeger was seen on L Superior and was identified as a dark juvenile Parasitic. If so, this may be the same Parasitic carefully identified two weeks ago at the mouth of the Lester R; however, some observers this weekend reported the jaeger to be at least as large as -- if not larger than -- a Ring-billed Gull, which suggests it might have been a Pomarine.

The Short-eared Owl was seen this morning at the 40th Ave West Erie Pier area. Though there have been few shorebirds there this year, there was also a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER there -- and at Park Point -- this morning, and the owl suggests this is still a good area to check for other kinds of birds.

A well-described Black-backed Woodpecker was reported yesterday at Park Point in the pines near the utility buildings S of Sky Harbor Airport, but no one reported relocating it today. Today, however, there was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Park Point near the bathhouse in the Recreation Area.

Finally, both a Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow and 2 Le Conte's Sparrows were found on the morning of Sept 15 by Jim Lind in Two Harbors in Lake Co. The location was in the weedy field behind the tourist information stand on Hwy 61, between the football field and Burlington Bay. These sparrows were relocated later that morning, but no one apparently was able to find them again that afternoon or over the weekend.

Unless something unusual is seen in the meantime which needs to be reported immediately, this report is normally updated once a week on Thursdays, so that the next scheduled update will be on September 21. The phone number for the Duluth Birding Report is (218) 525-5952, and callers can report bird sightings if they wish after the tone at the end of each tape. Messages can also be left without having to wait for the report to end: to do this, after the tape starts playing push 5 on a touch-tone phone, the tape will stop, the tone will sound, and you can then leave your 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 of Natural History,10 Church Street SE, Minneapolis MN 55455; or send an e-mail to ; or visit the MOU web site at .

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