Duluth RBA
Duluth RBA
Duluth RBA
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-RBA *Minnesota *Duluth/North Shore *April 1, 1999 *MNDU9904.01 -Birds mentioned
Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: April 1, 1999
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, April 1, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.
Since I was out of town last week, the last update of this tape was two weeks ago, and during that time such species as BOREAL OWL, GREAT GRAY OWL and NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS, GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL, FRANKLIN'S GULL, TRUMPETER SWAN, BOHEMIAN WAXWING and RED CROSSBILL were all reported.
However, the most interesting reports have been of early spring migrants, especially those seen for the first time this week, which mostly include waterfowl. In fact, this has been one of the earliest spring migrations of ducks ever in Duluth -- or possibly the earliest ever -- as all but one species of duck (the Wood Duck) regularly seen here in spring had arrived before April 1. Especially significant were the number and variety of ducks seen yesterday morning at Mud Lake in Gary-New Duluth, with virtually every possible species present. These included unusually high numbers of GADWALL, NORTHERN SHOVELER, NORTHERN PINTAIL, RING-NECKED DUCK and HOODED MERGANSER; also seen were one female GREATER SCAUP and one pair each of CANVASBACK and REDHEAD. Besides the absence of Wood Duck, it was curious that no Red-breasted Mergansers were seen (although this species had been seen in Duluth earlier in March) and that only 3-4 LESSER SCAUP were present.
Also at Mud Lake on the 31st were 65 TUNDRA SWANS, with another 25 swans nearby on the St. Louis River in Fond du Lac. On the day before, March 30, a total of 150 Tundra Swans was counted -- the highest number here in recent years. To reach Mud Lake, which should be good through this weekend, hike north on the railroad tracks from McCuen St or Minn Hwy 39 just west of the Oliver, Wis. bridge.
Other migrants which have reportedly arrived in Duluth since the previous update of this tape include: PIED-BILLED GREBE, TURKEY VULTURE, CANADA GOOSE, NORTHERN HARRIER, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, COOPER'S HAWK and NORTHERN GOSHAWK, AMERICAN KESTREL, KILLDEER, AMERICAN WOODCOCK, MOURNING DOVE, YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER (seen on the unusually early date of March 30), NORTHERN FLICKER, BROWN CREEPER, EASTERN BLUEBIRD, AMERICAN ROBIN, AMERICAN TREE, FOX and SONG SPARROWS, DARK-EYED JUNCO, EASTERN MEADOWLARK, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD and COMMON GRACKLE.
Speaking of migration, Frank Nicoletti reports the following totals for the month of March from his hawk lookout on W Skyline Pkwy near Enger Tower: 6 T. VULTURE, 1288 BALD EAGLE, 4 NORTHERN HARRIER, 8 SHARP-SHINNED, 2 COOPER'S, 1 NORTHERN GOSHAWK, 281 RED-TAILED, 35 ROUGH-LEGGED, 35 GOLDEN EAGLE, 1 MERLIN, and 2 PEREGRINE, for a total of 1664. His biggest day was the 27th with a total of 375, which included 194 Bald Eagles, 150 Red-taileds and 24 Rough-leggeds.
In other birding news, back on the night of March 19-20 Tony Hertzel of the Twin Cities heard 2 BOREAL OWLS, 2 GREAT GRAY OWLS and several NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS, along the Stoney River Forest Road in Lake Co, which turns south off Minn Hwy 1 about 3 mi west of Isabella. The Boreal Owls were at 7.5 mi south and at 10.5 mi south of Hwy 1, and the Great Grays were at 10.9 mi south of 1 and 0.8 mi east of the Stoney River road on the Whyte Rd, which is about 12 mi south of Hwy 1.
More recently, 2 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS have been heard along the Strand Rd in Duluth, with one of these heard from Terry Wiens' yard last night.
At Wisconsin Point, an adult GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL was seen at the Superior landfill on March 24, and even more surprising was the very early adult FRANKLIN'S GULL at Gull Bluff just east of the dump.
On March 29, a TRUMPETER SWAN was seen at the gravel pit pond at the NW corner of Minn Hwy 194 and Canosia Rd, which is just west of Duluth. This is the same location where Trumpeters have been seen in recent years.
Several BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS are still being seen this week in Duluth, mostly in the Morgan Park and Gary-New Duluth neighborhoods, and there was also a small flock seen today near UMD on the 1900 block of Kent Rd. At this latter location some RED CROSSBILLS were also heard today, and Gary Kuyava on W Wabasha St is still seeing Red Crossbills at his feeder.
Unless something unusual is seen in the meantime which needs to be reported
on immediately, this Birding Report is normally updated once a week on
Thursdays, so that the next scheduled update will be on April 8. As
always, if you have birds to report you may either: 1) leave a message
after the tone at the end of the tape* -- the number is (218) 525-5952 ; or
2) call me directly at (218) 525-6930; or 3) e-mail me at
(*Callers may leave a message on the tape without having to wait for the
Birding Report to end. To do this, after the tape starts playing push 5 on
your touch-tone phone, the tape will then stop, the tone will sound, and
you can then leave your message.)
This Birding Report is provided and funded by Minnesota's state bird club,
the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU), as a service to its members.
For more information on the MOU, write us c/o Bell Museum of Natural
History, 10 Church Street S.E., Minneapolis MN 55455; or visit the MOU web
page at http://biosci.cbs.umn.edu/~mou.
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