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Other Hotlines: Minnesota Statewide | Detroit Lakes

-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*November 16, 2000
*MNDU0011.16

-Birds mentioned

• Pacific Loon
• Bald Eagle
• Northern Goshawk
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Rough-legged Hawk
• Golden Eagle
• Gyrfalcon
• Spruce Grouse
• Snowy Owl
• Northern Hawk Owl
• Great Gray Owl
• Boreal Owl
• Three-toed Woodpecker
• Black-backed Woodpecker
• Boreal Chickadee
• Townsend's Solitaire
• Varied Thrush
• Bohemian Waxwing
• Northern Shrike
• Snow Bunting
• Pine Grosbeak
• Red Crossbill
• White-winged Crossbill
• Common Redpoll
• Hoary Redpoll

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: November 16, 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 Thursday, November 16, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

With the arrival of more winter-like weather conditions since last weekend, there seems to have been less coverage of N E Minn by birders recently, although several significant sightings have been reported. These include: PACIFIC LOONS in Duluth; a GYRFALCON at Hawk Ridge; additional reports of BOREAL OWL, GREAT GRAY OWL, NORTHERN HAWK OWL and SNOWY OWLS at various locations; and TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES in Duluth and Grand Marais.

Yesterday, the 15th, Dave Benson identified 2 Pacific Loons on L Superior along the Lakewalk near the 25th Ave E Perkins Restaurant. Today at Hawk Ridge Frank Nicoletti had an adult gray-morph Gyrfalcon migrating past the Main Overlook; another ad gray-morph Gyr had been reported last week in Silver Bay in Lake Co, and it is possible both reports pertain to the same individual.

The most noteworthy birding news this week again involves northern owls. A total of 23 Boreal Owls have now been banded in Duluth through the night of Nov 14, 6 of these at Hawk Ridge and 17 at another site which cannot be reported at this time to avoid disturbance. The best news about this is that most of these owls are of adequate weight and apparently not stressed by starvation as were the Boreals which turned up here earlier in the fall.

Three Great Gray Owls were seen recently: at the Hawk Ridge Banding Station last weekend; on Nov 10 in Brimson near the highway department garage on St Louis Co Rd 44; and in Lake Co on Minn Hwy 1 near the jct with the Spruce Rd -- on Nov 11 it was just SE of this corner, and today it was about 1/2 mi NW. Last week's Birding Report mentioned Great Grays at 2 other Lake Co locations, on Co Rd 2 and on the Stoney River Forest Rd, but it is not known if these are still present.

Three N Hawk Owls were also reported: last weekend in the Sax -Zim Bog somewhere along St Louis Co Rd 52 (unfortunately, the exact location was not given); along Minn Hwy 169, about 4.5 mi W of Ely in St Louis Co, from Nov 5 through at least Nov 10; and today, the 16th, along Minn Hwy 1 about 1/2 mi SE of the Spruce Rd jct. Reports of 4 hawk owls were included on last week's Birding Report, 3 along or near the Gunflint Tr in Cook Co and 1 along Lake Co Rd 2; again, it is not known if any of these might still be present.

And only 2 Snowy Owls were reported this week: on Nov 14 just NE of Duluth along the Homestead Rd near the jct with Korkki Rd, and last weekend on the Univ of Wis campus in Superior. Several Snowys dying from apparent starvation were being found in the area earlier this fall, but fortunately fewer of these have apparently been found recently.

Molly Evans saw a Townsend's Solitaire among a flock of robins in her yard on the 2900 block of Greysolon Rd in Duluth Nov 14, but it has not been seen since then. And another solitaire was found by Mike Hendrickson and others today in Grand Marais, Cook Co, in the campground W of the harbor.

At Hawk Ridge this month the flight of raptors has been slow but steady on most days, but the past few days the migration has picked up a bit with the colder weather. On Nov 14 the total from the Main Overlook was 156, including 26 NORTHERN GOSHAWKS and 11 GOLDEN EAGLES; on the 15th the count was 179, including 47 goshawks and 6 Golden Eagles; and today the total was about 200, with about 80 goshawks and no fewer than 23 Golden Eagles in addition to that Gyrfalcon. BALD EAGLES and RED-TAILED HAWKS comprise the majority of raptors seen on most days recently.

So far during Nov about 1,800 hawks have been counted, and these include about 700 Red-taileds, about 600 Bald Eagles, an excellent total of about 350 N Goshawks, and 65 Golden Eagles; curiously, only about 50 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS have been counted this month. In all, the season total at the Main Overlook now stands at about 85,000, which is about the average in recent years, and more information about each day's count can be found at the website, which is up-to-date through yesterday's totals.

Finally, of the other N Minn specialties often asked about by visiting birders at this time of year: SPRUCE GROUSE have been reported at 3 Cook Co locations in late Oct / early Nov along the Gunflint Tr and the Lima Mountain Rd; after a good movement of BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS in Oct and early Nov, none have been reported this week; the only THREE-TOED WOODPECKER reported so far was in Oct in Cook Co on the Lima Grade Rd; relatively few BOREAL CHICKADEES, NORTHERN SHRIKES, SNOW BUNTINGS, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, RED CROSSBILLS and COMMON REDPOLLS have been reported; no VARIED THRUSHS or HOARY REDPOLLS have apparently been seen yet by anyone; and only BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS and PINE GROSBEAKS thus far seem to be here in average numbers.

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 November 23. 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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