-RBA
*Minnesota
*Minnesota Statewide
*January 21, 1999
*MNST9901.21

-Birds mentioned

• Pied-billed Grebe
• Bald Eagle
• Northern Harrier
• Short-eared Owl
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
• Horned Lark
• Brown Creeper
• American Robin
• Northern Shrike
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Dark-eyed Junco
• Lapland Longspur
• Snow Bunting

Hotline: Minnesota Statewide
Date: January 21, 1999
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (612) 780-8890
Compiler: Anthony Hertzel
Transcriber: Anthony Hertzel (tony@millcomm.com)
Re-transcriber: David Cahlander (dac@skypoint.com)

This is the Minnesota birding report for Thursday January 21st sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

On January 16th, Terry Brashear found a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER on the south side of Wabasha County Road 26, about an 1/8 of a mile northwest of its intersection with state highway 74.

Dan Neubauer found a NORTHERN HARRIER on the 18th near the town of Lakeville in Dakota County. The harrier was seen at Ritter Farm Park, which is along 195th Street south just west of Interstate 35.

A YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER is apparently attempting to overwinter in Minneapolis. Chet Meyers saw the bird on January 17th at the north end of Lake of the Isles.

A NORTHERN SHRIKE has been hanging around the feeders at Kim Metz's home in southeastern Pine County since December 21.

Most interesting is the Gray-headed Junco at Grant Schuth's feeder in Wabasha, Wabasha County. This subspecies of the DARK-EYED JUNCO has been present since January 6th. On the 16th, Betsy Beneke reported three flocks of SNOW BUNTINGS in western Becker County. Also noted were a few LAPLAND LONGSPURS and HORNED LARKS. SNOW BUNTINGS, LAPLAND LONGSPURS and HORNED LARKS have also been reported from many of the southern counties as far north Sherburne County.

I have a nice report from Oscar Johnson, who took a birding trip down the Mississippi River on January 19th. He counted 88 BALD EAGLES between the towns of Red Wing and Wabasha. He also found a SHORT-EARED OWL near the entrance to Frontenac State Park along U.S. highway 61 in Goodhue County. On January 14th, Dedrick Benz refound two of the SHORT-EARED OWLS reported last week along 70th Ave. southwest between Olmsted County Road 25 and 20th Street SW.

Also reported this past week was a PIED-BILLED GREBE, found January 13th by Jay Hamernick near the Lake Orono dam in the town of Elk River; plus RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, BROWN CREEPER, AMERICAN ROBIN which continues to be reported in very large numbers as far north as Chisago County,

Thanks to Leigh Orwig, Gerri Nelson, and Stacy Elfelt.

The next scheduled update of this tape is Thursday January 28th.

From tony@midas.millcomm.com Thu Jan 28 18:17:21 1999 Received: from midas.millcomm.com (midas.millcomm.com [208.135.176.12]) by abby.skypoint.net (8.8.7/jl 1.3) with ESMTP id SAA08195 for ; Thu, 28 Jan 1999 18:17:19 -0600 (CST) Received: from localhost by midas.millcomm.com (8.9.1/8.9.1) with SMTP id SAA10419 for ; Thu, 28 Jan 1999 18:11:34 -0600 (CST) Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 18:11:34 -0600 (CST)
From: Anthony Hertzel To: David Cahlander Subject: MN RBA 1-28-99 (fwd) Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: RO

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 18:11:21 -0600 (CST)
From: Anthony Hertzel To: Minnesota Rare Bird Alert Subject: MN RBA 1-28-99

This is the Minnesota birding report for Thursday January 28th sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

A MUTE SWAN is being reported from Rice County, near the Lyndale Motel in the town of Faribault.

Most interesting was the KILLDEER seen January 24th in Wright County. Dan Florean discovered it near the boat landing in Montissippi State Park in the town of Monticello.

A SNOWY OWL was seen Tuesday January 26th over state highway 36 in Ramsey County at the Edgerton St. intersection. On the 17th, another SNOWY OWL was in a plowed field in Rock County on the west side of state highway 23, about 1/2 mile north of its intersection with Rock County Road 14.

Mark Ochs reported several GRAY PARTRIDGE on January 24th, along 180th Street South east of Hogan Avenue in Dakota County. A MEADOWLARK is also being seen in the area at a feeder between Fisher and Goodwin Avenues on the north side of 180th Street.

The CAROLINA WREN reported from Medina in northwestern Hennepin County was still present as recently as January 23. The location is the home of the Turnhams.

Patsy Kuntz reported a YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER on the 23rd near Wirth Park in Golden Valley, Hennepin County. This may be the same individual reported near Lake of the Isles in recent weeks.

On the 23rd, Ronald Refsnider reported several BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS at Bunker Park, Anoka County. They were located just behind the clubhouse at Bunker Park Golf Course.

And finally, a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK visited the Washington County home of Sandra Bissinette. This is the fifth consecutive winter that this species has appeared in her yard.

Thanks to Kim Metz, Kurt Haroldson, Ken Lafond, and Mary Brown.

The next scheduled update of this tape is Thursday February 4th.

Send your rare and unusual Minnesota sightings to our electronic hotline: MnRBA@linux.winona.msus.edu. To learn more, send a message (the message being these two words: info end) to mnrba-request@linux.winona.msus.edu.

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