Minnesota Statewide/Twin Cities

Previous reports: November 7 14 21 28 , December 5 12 19 26 , January 2 .
Other Hotlines: Minnesota Duluth/North Shore 
-RBA
*Minnesota
*Minnesota Statewide
*January 2, 1997
*MNST9701.02

-Birds mentioned
-Transcript

Hotline: Minnesota Statewide
Date: January 2, 1997
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (612) 780-8890
Compiler: Anthony Hertzel
Transcriber: Anthony Hertzel (tony@mill2.MillComm.COM)
Re-transcriber: David Cahlander (dac@skypoint.com)

This is the Minnesota birding report for Thursday January 2nd sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. To skip this recording and leave a message you can press 5 on your touch tone phone.

Interesting is the GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE reported Jan 2nd from Anoka County. The bird was seen at the south end of Peltier Lake near county road 14.

A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK was seen in Houston County by Fred Lesher near the town of Hokah on Jan 1st, and a MERLIN was at the Old Cedar Ave Bridge in Bloomington, also on Jan 1st.

Six GREAT GRAY OWLS were seen in Aitkin County on the 1st. One was near the junction of county road 18 and U.S. 169, another was 2.2 miles east of 169 on county road 18, two were seen near Pietz's Road on county road 18, one was 1.6 miles south of county road 18 on county road 5, and one was along county road 1, 3/10th of a mile north of its junction with county road 379.

Three NORTHERN HAWK OWLS were found recently in Aitkin County. One was .6 miles south of the junction of Aitkin county roads 18 and 5, a second was .7 miles east of this junction, and a third was 10.75 miles north of the town of Aitkin on County Road 1. Several people called to mention that the NORTHERN HAWK OWL seen recently in Blaine in Anoka County can still be found there. It was seen as recently as January 2nd along 99th Ave. near its junction with Cloverleaf Parkway.

On Dec 28th Tom Lewanski found a SNOWY OWL near Hastings, Dakota County, along County Road 42 near the entrance to Spring Lake Park. The SNOWY OWL seen most of this winter at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport was present on the 30th, and can be seen from the end of 66th Street in Richfield.

Dave Soverign found a HERMIT THRUSH on Dec 28th in St. Paul in Ramsey County, that VARIED THRUSH reported recently from Betty Amerman's feeder in Mora in Kanabec County was still present as of December 28th; and a VARIED THRUSH was seen in Reno, Houston County, at the Schaller residence on Jan 1st.

Pat Telfer called to say that a BROWN THRASHER, which has been present for about a month, visited her Edina yard again on the 28th.

Other birds called in include two GREEN-WINGED TEAL at the Old Cedar Ave Bridge on the 2nd; two MOURNING DOVES at Barb Kull's feeder in Ramsey, Anoka County on the 27th; NORTHERN FLICKER reports from Anoka, Hennepin and Scott counties; a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW at Ed Jakob's feeder in south Minneapolis on Dec 28th; a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW at Paul Voigt's feeder in Bloomington on the 1st; numerous SNOW BUNTINGS from the counties of Aitkin, Sibley, McLeod, Meeker, Wright and Carver; and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS reported from Aitkin, St. Louis and Hennepin counties;

Some callers asked about a perceived lack of birds at their feeders as compared to other years. Other callers mentioned an increase in bird sightings in parks or along walks. American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins, for example, are apparently scarce this year, while the numbers of Purple Finches and White-winged Crossbills are obviously up. I certainly don't have the time to go into great detail as to why this occurs, but it is due to a several highly variable factors. These include this winter's warmer weather, a poor or exceptional nesting season last spring, and an excellent berry crop this fall -- especially of service berry and mountain ash -- plus a good cone crop all contribute. It's difficult to quantify how many birds spend the winter in the state, or to predict or fully explain the reasons why this varies from year to year. But to put this winter into some kind of overall context, I suggest you report what birds are visiting your feeders this winter, and let me know what you are seeing when you are out.

The next scheduled update of this tape is Thursday January 9th. If you have birds to report, please leave your name and phone number plus a brief but specific message which includes the name of the county where your sighting took place.

From linux.winona.msus.edu!mnbird-owner Fri Jan 10 13:30:55 1997 Return-Path: Received: from linux.winona.msus.edu ([199.17.128.157]) by mirage.skypoint.com via smtpd with esmtp id for ; Fri, 10 Jan 1997 13:30:49 -0600 (CST) (Smail-3.2 1996-Jul-4 #2) Received: (from bin@localhost) by linux.winona.msus.edu (8.6.12/8.6.9) id NAA27872 for mnbird-outgoing; Fri, 10 Jan 1997 13:27:16 -0600 Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1997 13:29:42 -0600 (CST)
From: Anthony Hertzel Subject: MN RBA 1-9-97 To: MN Birding Net Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Sender: owner-mnbird@linux.winona.msus.edu Precedence: bulk Content-Length: 4057 Status: RO

This is the Minnesota birding report for Thursday January 9th sponsored=20 by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. As always, to skip this=20 recording press 5 on your touch tone phone.

A large variety of waterfowl is being seen at the Blue Lake settling=20 ponds near Shakopee in Scott County. GREEN-WINGED TEAL, AMERICAN BLACK=20 DUCK, MALLARD, GADWALL, REDHEAD, LESSER SCAUP, COMMON GOLDENEYE,=20 BUFFLEHEAD and HOODED MERGANSER were all reported this week. The=20 Barrow's Goldeneye which had been seen as well has not been reported=20 since the 1st.

A COMMON SNIPE was seen Jan 7th at the Nicols fen in Eagan in Dakota=20 County. Nicols fen is just south of the railroad tracks near the eastern=20 end of Black Dog Road.

Ray Glassel found a SNOWY OWL at 180th street and Emery in Dakota County=20 on Jan 7th. Another SNOWY OWL, reported by Ken LaFond, was in western=20 Kittson County along highway 175 on Jan 6th. Ken also found a GREAT GRAY=20 OWL and a NORTHERN HAWK OWL in Roseau County about nine miles north of=20 the town of Roseau. That NORTHERN HAWK OWL can still be found in Anoka=20 County, though it is moving about quite a bit. As recently as Jan 8th it=20 was seen along Cloverleaf Parkway between 97th Ave and 99th Ave. On Dec=20 31st, Mark Johnson reported three NORTHERN HAWK OWLS five miles=20 northeast of Baudette in Lake of the Woods County. And Barb McGregor=20 found a NORTHERN HAWK OWL, a GREAT GRAY OWL and a few WHITE-WINGED=20 CROSSBILLS on St. Louis County Road 7 just south of Zim on Jan 1st.

Two TOWNSEND=D5S SOLITAIRE'S were found along Wabasha County Road 26,=20 three-tenths of a mile west of state highway 74 on Jan 4th. A third=20 Solitaire was found south of here in Winona County on Jan 7, nine tenths=20 of a mile south of the DNR building in the Whitewater W.M.A. And another=20 Solitaire was seen briefly along Grayslon Road in east Duluth last week.=20 For more information on this and other birds in the Duluth area, you can=20 call the Duluth birding report at 218-525-5952.

Al Batt reported that a VARIED THRUSH is still visiting a feeder in the=20 town of Hayward, Freeborn County as it has since been since Dec. 14.=20 Forest Strnad reported a BROWN THRASHER south of the town of Northfield=20 in Rice County on Demontraville Road east of highway 3.

In other birding news, an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN and a DOUBLE-CRESTED=20 CORMORANT can be seen on the west side of Black Dog Lake in Dakota=20 County. These birds have been present for several months; the Greater=20 White-fronted Goose reported last week from Anoka County is, in fact, a=20 typical domestic barnyard goose; five RING-BILLED GULLS on Albert Lea=20 Lake in Freeborn County; WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS were seen in=20 Washington, Freeborn and Hennepin Counties; a HARRIS' SPARROW was seen=20 in section 15 of Bancroft township in Freeborn County, north of County=20 Road 22 just off County Road 25; Snow Buntings were reported from Polk=20 County; and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS were at feeders in Anoka and=20 Washington counties.

I received many reports in response to last week=D5s comments on the=20 current status of winter birds. Most seemed to agree that, generally,=20 the numbers of birds being seen is down somewhat from other years. The=20 expected winter finches, such as Pine Siskin and Purple Finch, are=20 easily found -- sometimes in surprising numbers -- in the northern=20 counties, while they are nearly non-existent to the south. Common=20 Redpolls are anything but common, and Cedar Waxwing and American=20 Goldfinch numbers are also down across the state. Red-breasted=20 Nuthatches are not as abundant as last year when they invaded across the=20 state, and their numbers seem to be a bit more typical. Mourning Dove,=20 Northern Cardinal and American Tree Sparrow are apparently being seen in=20 above normal numbers. Interestingly, many callers reported that=20 woodpecker numbers appeared lower than normal, while others judged them=20 to be higher.

The next scheduled update of this tape is Thursday January 16th.



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