Previous reports: July 1 , September 2 9 16 19 .
Other Hotlines: Minnesota Statewide

-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*September 23, 1999
*MNDU9909.23

-Birds mentioned

• Pacific Loon
• Snow Goose
• White-winged Scoter
• Broad-winged Hawk
• Peregrine Falcon
• Sandhill Crane
• POMARINE JAEGER
• Parasitic Jaeger
• Short-eared Owl
• Northern Saw-whet Owl
• Western Kingbird
• NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD
• Northern Cardinal
• Lark Sparrow
• Rusty Blackbird

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: September 23, 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, Sept 23, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

Not only are last week's POMARINE JAEGER and PACIFIC LOON still present this week in Duluth, but there were also sightings in northestern Minn this week of a few other unexpected birds, including WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, SHORT-EARED OWL, WESTERN KINGBIRD, NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD, LARK SPARROW and NORTHERN CARDINAL.

The POMARINE JAEGER is still being seen intermittently this week on L Superior out from downtown Duluth between the Fitger's Bldg and Canal Park. It is a dark juvenile and is best identified by its large size (about the same as a Ring-billed Gull) and by the rounded tips of its slightly prodruding central tail feathers. Birders should be aware that this jaeger is not always present, that it spends much of its time sitting far out on the surface of the lake, and that care is needed in identifying it since a few PARASITIC JAEGERS have also been seen recently on the lake at various locations in Duluth-Superior.

The PACIFIC LOON is also still present on the lake along the North Shore, with the most recent report early yesterday evening from the 8200 block of Scenic Hwy 61, about 1/2 mile beyond Lakewood Rd. The loon is apparently an adult in basic (winter) plumage, and identified by its smaller bill and body size, its obvious "chinstrap", the pale gray crown and hindneck, its rounded head shape, and the narrow and straight black border down the side of its neck. Birders should also use caution in identifying this loon since Common Loons are also on the lake, a spotting scope is necessary, and though the loon moves around a lot it is usually reported in the vicinity of Lakewood Rd.

Barb and Denny Martin birded up in Cook County on Sept 19-20, and turned up some significant finds, including a lone WHITE-WINGED SCOTER on the lake at Paradise Beach (which is about 13 mi east of Grand Marais), a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD in the town of Tofte, a LARK SPARROW at the Spruce Creek ponds (which is off Hwy 61 at mile 97.5), and a NORTHERN CARDINAL at Taconite Harbor.

Other recent noteworthy sightings were a SHORT-EARED OWL yesterday at Park Point along the Sky Harbor Airport runway, and a WESTERN KINGBIRD at Stony Point Sept 19.

Meanwhile, at Hawk Ridge there have been several good flight days this week. Even though about 45,000 BROAD-WINGED HAWKS had been counted on Sept 15, they did not all pass through last week, as shown by the counts of 3778 Broad-wingeds on Sept 19 and 6142 on the 20th. The season total for Broad-wingeds is now over 85,000, which is the main reason the overall hawk count so far this season is over 100,000 -- already the second highest season total ever at the Ridge, with another two months of counting remaining.

Also of note at Hawk Ridge this week were: two banded PEREGRINE FALCONS, one each on Sept 21 and 22; the first few NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS which have been netted at the Banding Station; several SANDHILL CRANES counted on various days; and the first SNOW GEESE and RUSTY BLACKBIRDS of the season.

Unfortunately, if the weather forecast is accurate, the next few days will not be very conducive to a good hawk flight, since the outlook is for south winds and warm temperatures Friday and Saturday, with a chance of rain on Sunday.

Unless something unusual is seen in the meantime which needs to be reported immediately, the Duluth Birding Report is normally updated once a week on Thursdays, so that the next scheduled update will be on Sept 30. The phone number is (218) 525-5952, and callers can leave a message if they wish after the tone at the end of the tape. Also note that a message can be left without having to wait for the birding report to end: after the tape starts playing, push 5 on a touch-tone phone, the tape will then stop, the tone will sound and you can leave your message.

The Duluth Birding Report is sponsored and funded by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU), the state bird club, as a service to its members. For more information on the MOU, either write us c/o the Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 Church Street S E, Minneapolis MN 55455, or visit the MOU web site at .

Send your rare and unusual Minnesota sightings to our electronic hotline: MOU-net@biosci.umn.edu. To learn more, send a message (the message being these two words: info mou-net) to majordomo@biosci.umn.edu.

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