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Other Hotlines: Minnesota Statewide | Detroit Lakes

-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*December 19, 2004
*MNDU0412.19

-Birds mentioned

• Long-tailed Duck
• Golden Eagle
• Spruce Grouse
• Thayer's Gull
• Iceland Gull
• Lesser Black-backed Gull
• Glaucous Gull
• Great Black-backed Gull
• Great Horned Owl
• Northern Hawk Owl
• Barred Owl
• Great Gray Owl
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• American Three-toed Woodpecker
• Black-backed Woodpecker
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Boreal Chickadee
• Townsend's Solitaire
• American Robin
• Varied Thrush
• Gray Catbird
• Bohemian Waxwing
• Brewer's Blackbird
• House Finch
• Red Crossbill
• Hoary Redpoll
• Pine Siskin

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: December 19, 2004
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 728-5030
Compiler: David R. Benson (drbenson@cpinternet.com)
Transcriber: David R. Benson (drbenson@cpinternet.com)

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Sunday, December 19, 2004, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. The report is being updated today to report on the results of area Christmas Bird Counts held yesterday. Thursday's report will report results of counts being held today and tomorrow.

Fifty-six people found a preliminary count of 63 species yesterday at the Duluth Christmas Bird Count. Highlights included record counts of four species: 19 PILEATED WOODPECKERS, 132 HOUSE FINCH, 23 GREAT GRAY OWLS, and 87 AMERICAN ROBINS, a LONG-TAILED DUCK at Canal Park, a GOLDEN EAGLE at Hawk Ridge; an adult THAYER'S GULL and an adult GLAUCOUS GULL at Canal Park; 2 GREAT HORNED OWLS, 1 NORTHERN HAWK OWL, and 3 BARRED OWLS, 3 RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS, a GRAY CATBIRD at Anastasia and Esther near UMD; 300 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS seen behind St. Scholastica (plus smaller groups at several locations); 12 RED CROSSBILLS near the intersection of Hicken and Grouse north of Duluth; 2 HOARY REDPOLLS, and 635 PINE SISKINS (not a record, but much higher than in recent years). Species missed include Rough-legged Hawk, Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee, and White-winged Crossbill. If you saw any of these species on Saturday, please leave a message about your sighting.

In Grand Marais, 15 people found a preliminary total of 36 species yesterday, including a LONG-TAILED DUCK, 25 SCOTER sp., 2 GREAT GRAY OWLS, 2 TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES, a VARIED THRUSH, 27 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS, and a BREWER'S BLACKBIRD.

Repeating from Thursday's report, a tour group from Iowa reported both BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER and AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER from the Spruce Rd, which turns north off Hwy 1 northwest of the jct. with Lake Cty Rd 2. They found BOREAL CHICKADEES along this road too. They also saw a SPRUCE GROUSE from Cty Rd 2, 2.5 miles north of the Sand River.

The best spot for gulls in our area is the Superior, WI landfill, where this week there were reports of three THAYER'S GULLS, two ICELAND GULLS, eight GLAUCOUS GULLS, a second winter LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, and a GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. A first winter THAYER'S GULL was seen again this week in Two Harbors, MN.

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, December 23rd.

The telephone number of the Duluth Rare Bird Alert is 218-728-5030. 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 to mou@cbs.umn.edu, or visit the MOU web site at mou.mn.org.

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