-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*June 25, 1998
*MNDU9806.25

-Birds mentioned

• Sharp-tailed Grouse
• Yellow Rail
• Great Gray Owl
• Three-toed Woodpecker
• Western Kingbird
• Philadelphia Vireo
• Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow
• White-winged Crossbill

Hotline: Minnesota Duluth/North Shore
Date: June 25, 1998
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 525-5952
Compiler: Kim Eckert
Transcriber: Rick Schroeder, MnBird Volunteer (avsaxman@cp.duluth.mn.us)
Re-transcriber: David Cahlander (dac@skypoint.com)

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, June 25, 1998, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union.

As a result of a Minnesota Birding weekend, and a Victor Emmanuel Nature Tour, in the past few days several birds of note have been seen in northeastern Minnesota. These include GREAT GRAY OWL, YELLOW RAIL, NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW, all in Cook County, and SHARP-TAILED GROUSE in the Sax/Zim Bog, THREE-TOED WOODPECKER and PHILADELPHIA VIREO all in Lake County, and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS unexpectedly in several locations.

On both June 20 and 22 a GREAT GRAY OWL has been seen hunting and carrying food, undoubtedly to a juvenile, along Aitkin C.R. 18, 4.5 miles east of U.S. Highway 169. Look especially in the large clearing behind the Hebron cemetary on the south side of the road.

YELLOW RAILS are now much closer to U. S. Highway 65 in the MacGregor Marsh than they had been earlier in June. Listen along the east side of the road one quarter-mile south and three-quarters of a mile south of Highway 210. But, the rails closest to the road and easiest to see are on the east side of 65 two miles south of Highway 210 at the Township Road 101 intersection.

Two NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROWS were heard on the west side of Highway 65 opposite mile marker 116.

In the Sax/Zim Bog northwest of Duluth look for SHARP-TAILED GROUSE in the field about a quarter mile southwest of the intersection of C.R. 52 and 208.

Two male THREE-TOED WOODPECKERS were seen June 23 along the Spruce Road in Lake County. The Spruce Road turns off of Minnesota Highway 1, 14 miles northwest of the C.R. 2 intersection. They were seen between 100 and 200 yards north of this road, along the snowmobile road which crosses the Spruce Road 3.5 miles from Highway 1.

Also in Lake County, two PHILADELPHIA VIREOS were seen along C.R. 7, 4 miles east of Finland.

WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, suddenly and unexpectedly, were seen this weekend in St. Louis and Lake Counties. In the Sax/Zim Bog flocks were seen along C.R. 52, 5 miles west of C.R. 7, and along C.R. 133, 1 mile east of 7.

In Lake County, there were CROSSBILLS seen near the beginning of the Spruce Road, at the Kawishiwi River picnic grounds off Highway 1, at the C.R. 4 entrance on the west side of Tettegouche State Park, and on C.R. 7 at Kramer.

Finally, Frank Nicoletti found a pair of WESTERN KINGBIRDS in Douglas County Wisconsin, at the intersection of Pison Road and C.R. L, which is 3 miles west of U.S. Highway 53.

The next scheduled update of this tape will be on Thursday, July 2,1998.

Send your rare and unusual Minnesota sightings to our electronic hotline: MnRBA. To learn more, send a message (the message being these two words: info end) to mnrba-request@linux.winona.msus.edu

Sightings can be called in directly to the tape, (218) 525-5952, by leaving a message after the tone at the end of the tape.

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