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-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*October 19, 2000
*MNDU0010.19

-Birds mentioned

• Pacific Loon
• King Eider
• Harlequin Duck
• Long-tailed Duck
• Black Scoter
• Surf Scoter
• White-winged Scoter
• White-rumped Sandpiper
• Red Phalarope
• Sabine's Gull
• Northern Hawk Owl
• Great Gray Owl
• Boreal Owl
• Black-backed Woodpecker
• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
• Indigo Bunting
• Field Sparrow
• Smith's Longspur
• Snow Bunting

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: October 19, 2000
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, October 19, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

There was an unscheduled update of this report on the 15th due to several birds of interest seen since the regular Thursday update of Oct 12. These included: an imm/female-plumaged KING EIDER Oct 14 in Cook Co at Good Harbor Bay, which is 4 mi SW of Grand Marais (this bird was relocated at the same location on the 16th, but I have received no other reports of it since then); imm/female-plumaged HARLEQUIN DUCKS Oct 15 at both the Park Point Recreation Area and the Superior Entry at the S tip of Park Point (most likely 2 individuals were present); a RED PHALAROPE Oct 14 on both the Minn and Wis sides of the Superior Entry (which no one was able to relocate subsequently); a juv SABINE'S GULL on the bay side of Park Point at 19th St on Oct 13 (which many observers looked for unsuccessfully in the following days); a very early NORTHERN HAWK OWL in Lake Co along Minn Hwy 1, 1/4 mi SE of the Spruce Rd, or about 14 mi NW of Co Rd 2; and another very early BOREAL OWL found injured along the Howard Gnesen Rd in Duluth.

And since last Sunday the reports of rarities in Duluth and elsewhere in N E Minn has not slowed down. First of all, there were belated reports from last weekend of another early NORTHERN HAWK OWL, another GREAT GRAY OWL, a SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER and a SMITH'S LONGSPUR.

The hawk owl was found Oct 15 in Cook Co along the Gunflint Tr, with the location described as about 40 mi N of Grand Marais near the Seagull Guard Station. The Great Gray was seen the same day, also in Cook Co, about 4 mi up the Pine Mountain Rd, which is just W of the Gunflint Tr. The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was seen on Oct 14 only in Lake Co along Hwy 61, 0.4 mi SW of Bayside Park, which is between Beaver Bay and Silver Bay. And the Smith's Longspur was identified at the Beaver Bay sewage ponds on Lake Co Rd 4 on the 15th.

After last weekend, still more rarities in the Duluth area were reported, including: 2 PACIFIC LOONS, 2 more HARLEQUIN DUCKS, yet another BOREAL OWL, WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER and a FIELD SPARROW.

Both Pacific Loons were seen on L Superior yesterday, the 18th; one of these was just SW of the French R and the other was at the W end of Stoney Pt, but it is not known if either of these loons was seen today. The 2 Harlequins were on the lake at the NE end of Flood Bay, which is just NE of Two Harbors in Lake Co. Another early and injured Boreal Owl was found in Duluth Oct 17, and it subsequently died; this makes 5 Boreals found here so far this season: 2 injured, 2 dead and 1 banded at Hawk Ridge. A White-rumped Sandpiper was at the 40th Ave West Erie Pier area Oct 16, and an unexpected Field Sparrow was at Park Point today, the 19th; the location was on the lake side of the wooded dunes about 1/2 mi S of the airport buildings.

Other birds of note reported recently include: all 3 SCOTERS and LONG-TAILED DUCK (formerly Oldsquaw) at various locations at Park Point or up the N Shore this week; at least 4 migrating BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS at Hawk Ridge this week, either at the Banding Station or at the Main Overlook; a late INDIGO BUNTING at the Hawk Ridge Main Overlook Oct 16; and the first SNOW BUNTINGS of the season reported on the 16th at 40th Ave West.

Unless something unusual is seen in the meantime which needs to be reported immediately, this report is normally updated once a week on Thursdays, so that the next scheduled update will be on October 26. The phone number for the Duluth Birding Report is (218) 525-5952, and callers can report bird sightings if they wish after the tone at the end of each tape. Messages can also be left without having to wait for the report to end: to do this, after the tape starts playing push 5 on a touch-tone phone, the tape will stop, the tone will sound, and you can then leave your message.

The Duluth Birding Report is sponsored and funded by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU) 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 SE, Minneapolis MN 55455; or send an e-mail to ; or visit the MOU web site at .

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