-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*May 6, 1999
*MNDU9905.06

-Birds mentioned

• American White Pelican
• Tundra Swan
• Snow Goose
• Black Scoter
• Surf Scoter
• Bald Eagle
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Rough-legged Hawk
• Golden Eagle
• Sandhill Crane
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Solitary Sandpiper
• Spotted Sandpiper
• Bonaparte's Gull
• Caspian Tern
• Great Gray Owl
• Chimney Swift
• Ruby-throated Hummingbird
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Least Flycatcher
• Northern Rough-winged Swallow
• Black-billed Magpie
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• Gray Catbird
• Golden-winged Warbler
• Nashville Warbler
• Magnolia Warbler
• Cape May Warbler
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Blackburnian Warbler
• Palm Warbler
• Black-and-white Warbler
• Ovenbird
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak
• Chipping Sparrow
• Clay-colored Sparrow
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Baltimore Oriole

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: May 6, 1999
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 525-5952
Compiler: Dave Benson
Transcriber: Dave Benson
Re-transcriber: David Cahlander (dac@skypoint.com)

Today's foggy weather and the resulting fallout of warblers and other passerines capped the first busy week of spring migration in Duluth.

This morning Dave Grosshuesch and Molly Evans found a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER at the Park Point Recreation Area. The bird was seen about 9:00 a.m. along the road, just past the entrance to the recreation area.

Dave Grosshuesch also found a SURF SCOTER near the Rowing Club on Minnesota Point, on the harbor side of the point. The bird was fraternizing with scaup and goldeneyes. Jeff Newman saw a BLACK SCOTER at Park Point earlier in the week.

Dozens of warblers were present at Park Point this morning, including many PALM WARBLERS, as well as CAPE MAY WARBLER, GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER, MAGNOLIA WARBLER, BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, OVENBIRD, and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER. NASHVILLE WARBLERS were also seen this week.

Rick Schroeder reported BONAPARTE'S GULL (a group of about 300) in the harbor this week. Rick also reported a group of BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES being seen on County Road 52 in the Sax-Zim bog, two miles east of County Road 7.

In Aitkin County, Warren Nelson has seen two GREAT GRAY OWLS on County Road 18, one mile east of Pietz's Road, and on Pietz's Road, a half-mile north of County Road 18.

Chuck Neal of Embarrass has had a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER at his feeder since the 3rd.

About 20 TUNDRA SWANS are still present in West Duluth, and at least three observers have seen them accompanied by two SNOW GEESE (one white-phase and one blue-). Frank Nicoletti saw 11 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS on the 1st, the second sighting of this species in Duluth this year; Frank also saw five SANDHILL CRANES on the 3rd. While doing his spring raptor count from Enger Tower, during March and April, Frank counted 4,975 raptors, including over 1500 BALD EAGLES, over 1700 RED-TAILED HAWKS, 75 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, and 40 GOLDEN EAGLES.

Martha Cole reported the first BALTIMORE ORIOLE on the 5th, and Alison Clarke, the first RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, also on the 5th. Terry Wiens reported LEAST FLYCATCHER, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW on the 4th, and GRAY CATBIRD and ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK today. Other new migrants this week include CASPIAN TERN, SOLITARY SANDPIPER, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, CHIMNEY SWIFT, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW and CHIPPING SPARROW.

The Hawk Ridge Birdathon is just over two weeks away. It's time to form teams and make pledges for this important fund-raising event for Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve. For more information, call Terry Wiens at 218-525-6158.

Duluth Bird Identification Class will meet Saturday at 7:30 a.m., Tuesday at 6:00 pm, and Thursday at 8:30 a.m. at Endion Station Parking Lot. For more information call me at 218-728-5812.

The next scheduled update of this report will be Thursday, May 13th. If you have birds to report, please leave a message after the tone or call me, Dave Benson, directly at 218-728-5812, or Mike Hendrickson at 626-2268.

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