-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*April 8, 1999
*MNDU9904.08

-Birds mentioned

• Common Loon
• Great Blue Heron
• Tundra Swan
• Trumpeter Swan
• Greater White-fronted Goose
• Snow Goose
• Wood Duck
• Turkey Vulture
• Osprey
• Bald Eagle
• Sharp-shinned Hawk
• Swainson's Hawk
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Sandhill Crane
• Short-eared Owl
• Belted Kingfisher
• Eastern Phoebe
• Tree Swallow
• Winter Wren
• Golden-crowned Kinglet
• Mountain Bluebird
• Bohemian Waxwing
• Red Crossbill

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: April 8, 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 8, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

For the second week in a row, the spring migration in Duluth and vicinity has been quite interesting, with this week's highlights including MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, SWAINSON'S HAWK, and unusually high numbers of TUNDRA SWANS and SHORT-EARED OWLS.

Jeff Newman found a female MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD on April 5 at Park Point near the south end of the airport runway, but unfortunately no one was able to relocate it the next day. Gary Nelson found a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE on April 4 on the Allouez Bay side of Wisconsin Point in Superior, and it's possible it is still in the area. An early SWAINSON'S HAWK, a species not normally seen in northeastern Minn., was seen yesterday by Frank Nicoletti from his hawk lookout near Enger Tower.

Several observers have been reporting large numbers of TUNDRA SWANS in Duluth this week, with the most being seen in this area in several years. On April 4, about 200 were seen on the St. Louis River between Clyde Ave near Morgan Park and Fond Du Lac. On the 6th, Mike Hendrickson counted about 600 on the river from the Oliver bridge. And yesterday a flock of 275 was seen flying west over Lake Superior towards Park Point and the harbor area.

And yesterday evening Jim and Sharon Lind saw no fewer than 4 SHORT-EARED OWLS just northwest of Two Harbors, about 1 mi east of the airport. This may be the highest count ever in the area for this owl, which is only rarely seen in northeastern Minn.

Also of interest recently were: a count of 7 TRUMPETER SWANS seen April 4 in the gravel pit pond at the intersection of Minn Hwy 194 and Canosia Rd; the group of 6 SANDHILL CRANES seen migrating today over the Enger Tower hawk lookout on W Skyline Pkwy -- also counted there today were 766 raptors, including 543 RED-TAILED HAWK, 101 TURKEY VULTURES and the first OSPREY of the season, and the count there yesterday was 764, including 514 RED-TAILED HAWK, 101 SHARP-SHINNED HAWK and 84 BALD EAGLES and the continued presence of both BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS and RED CROSSBILLS at various locations in Duluth, with large flocks of waxwings especially in the vicinity of UMD last weekend.

Other new migrants reported since last week's tape include COMMON LOON, GREAT BLUE HERON, SNOW GOOSE, WOOD DUCK, BELTED KINGFISHER, EASTERN PHOEBE, TREE SWALLOW, WINTER WREN and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET.

Finally, a new bird identification class is being offered in Duluth this spring by Dave Benson, with the first field trip this Saturday, April 10, meeting at 8 AM at the WWJC parking lot by the Olver bridge in Gary-New Duluth. For more information, call Dave at 728-5812. And it is not too early to start thinking about our 13th annual Hawk Ridge Birdathon and St. Louis Co. Big Day on Saturday, May 22, and for more information call Terry Wiens at 525-6158.

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 15. 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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