Previous reports: August 19 26 , September 23 30 , October 2 9 14 16 7 .
Other Hotlines: Minnesota Duluth/North Shore

-RBA
*Minnesota
*Minnesota Statewide
*October 21, 1999
*MNST9910.21

-Birds mentioned

• Black-bellied Plover
• American Golden Plover
• Sanderling
• Baird's Sandpiper
• Dunlin
• Parasitic Jaeger
• Black-headed Gull
• Lesser Black-backed Gull
• Williamson's Sapsucker
• Townsend's Solitaire
• Northern Shrike
• Summer Tanager
• Smith's Longspur
• Snow Bunting
• White-winged Crossbill
• Common Redpoll

Hotline: Minnesota Statewide
Date: October 21, 1999
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU) http://biosci.umn.edu/~mou/
Reports: (612) 780-8890
Compiler: Anthony Hertzel
Transcriber: Anthony Hertzel (ahertzel@uswest.net)
Re-transcriber: Terry Brashear (beakgeek@scientist.com)

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

No one has been able to relocate that WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER found October 16th at the old town of Taconite Harbor in Cook County, about a mile and a half southwest of Schroeder. The bird was seen along the gravel road that leads to Lake Superior. It was initially found at the top of the grade where the road turns northeast and descends down to the dead-end observation area.

On October 21st Anthony Hertzel and Peder Svingen found a female SUMMER TANAGER in the town of Knife River in Lake County. The bird was in a yard on the lake side of Old U.S. Highway 61 across the road from the motel. The home owner welcomes visitors, but asks that birders keep to the northeast side yard where the bird was found.

The two BLACK-HEADED GULLS are still being seen at the north end of Spirit Lake along Jackson County Road 2, about eight miles south and five miles west of the town of Jackson. These are adult birds in winter plumage, and were seen here on October 20th. And the LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL returned to Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis on October 20th. This is its first appearance since October 3rd.

On October 16th, Philip Chu reported nine species of shorebirds from South Heron Lake in Jackson County. These included BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER, SANDERLING, BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, and DUNLIN. Most of these were found at the public access in West Heron Lake Township.

A PARASITIC JAEGER was seen in the Duluth harbor on the 20th, and Dory Spence found a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE in her yard in the town of Schroeder, Cook County on the same day.

Jeff Stephenson reported at least 50 SMITH'S LONGSPURS about a mile south of Cottonwood County Road 10 along County Road 45.

Other species being reported include NORTHERN SHRIKE, SNOW BUNTING, COMMON REDPOLL, and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL.

In cooperation with the Minnesota Office of Tourism, highlights of this hotline can be now heard at a toll free number which is available to callers outside the Twin Cities area. That number is 1-800-657-3700.

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

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 To learn more about our organization visit our web site: http://biosci.cbs.umn.edu/~mou/

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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