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-RBA *Minnesota *Duluth/North Shore *October 25, 1996 *MNDU9610.25 -Birds mentioned
Hotline: Minnesota Duluth/North Shore
Date: October 25, 1996
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 525-5952
Compiler: Kim Eckert
Transcriber: Sr. Beverly Raway braway@fac1.css.edu
This is the Duluth birding report for Thursday, October 24th, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.
This past week's birding picture in Duluth and northeastern Minnesota was similar to that of previous weeks, that is, the overall number of species and of individual birds has continued to be disappointing as this continues to be one of the most birdless falls in recent memory, but at the same time several rarities were again reported and this week's list includes PACIFIC LOON, two HARLEQUIN DUCKS, all three SCOTERS, FRANKLIN'S GULL, LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, THAYER'S GULL, two NORTHERN HAWK OWLS, a banded BOREAL OWL, BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER, and VESPER SPARROW.
Peder Svingen found the PACIFIC LOON, an apparent adult in winter plumage, on October 21st on the Lake Superior side of Park Point a few blocks south of the Arial Lift Bridge. The loon was still present the next day, but no one has reported seeing it yesterday or today. Although this species is listed as casual on the Minnesota list, it has been seen almost every fall in recent years especially in Lake Superior.
Mike Hendrickson found an adult male HARLEQUIN DUCK at Stoney Point yesterday, the 23rd. Stoney Point is located 10 and 1/2 miles up Scenic Highway 61. The Harlequin was near the fishing shack about half way around the point, but apparently no one has seen it again today, although a second HARLEQUIN DUCK, a female or immature male was seen today about a half mile east of Stoney Point.
Last weekend's annual October birding weekend field trip failed to turn up much during Saturday's field trip except for an unexpected 12 species of shorebirds, most of these at the 40th avenue west Erie Pier mudflats. But on Sunday we found all three species of SCOTERS and an adult FRANKLIN'S GULL at Park Point. WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS were seen flying past the recreation area, but have not been seen since Sunday. The BLACK and SURF SCOTERS were swimming on the bay side at about 39th street, and both species have been relocated during the past few days at various locations on the Point. The FRANKLIN'S GULL was an adult at the recreation area ball field and was also seen again on subsequent days.
Karl Bardon of the Twin Cities today saw an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL and at least seven THAYER'S GULLS at both the Superior entry breakwaters at the far south end of Park Point and at the Superior landfill at the south end of Wisconsin Point. Another THAYER'S GULL, a first-winter immature, was also present October 21st at Canal Park.
After that very early NORTHERN HAWK OWL was seen October 12th, on U. S. Highway 2 just north of the Itasca Aitkin County line, two more early HAWK OWLS were seen this week suggesting there might be another invasion winter for this species. One of them was discovered just this morning at Hawk Ridge about 100 yards up Ole's Trail from the Main Overlook and it was still present into the afternoon. The other HAWK OWL was reported by Steve Deger of the Twin Cities on October 20th in the Sax-Zim Bog area along St. Louis County Road 133 about a mile west of Meadowlands.
Last night the Hawk Ridge banders netted a BOREAL OWL, a species which they do not band every year. Impressively, it was a first year bird which means at least one Boreal Owl nest was successful last summer in spite of last winter's massive die off. A BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER was found along the Pine Woods trail at Hawk Ridge in the morning of October 19th, but by the afternoon no one could relocate it. And then on the 22nd another BLACK-BACKED was seen at Hawk Ridge, this one at the Main Overlook. Also of interest at Hawk Ridge were a few BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS, and a SHORT-EARED OWL flying past the Main Overlook today. While the only good day for hawk watching lately was back on October 18th when 545 hawks were counted including 21 ROUGH-LEGGEDS, 83 BALD EAGLES, and 285 RED-TAILEDS all of these one day highs so far this season. And Janet Green found a VESPER SPARROW October 20th and 21st along the Old North Shore Road about a half mile west of Homestead Road.
Finally, our census of migrants counted at dawn at the Lakewood Pumping Station has been completed this season and during the 30 dates of coverage totaling 60 hours between August 21st and October 20th an overall total of 47,382 migrants were counted which is only about 790 per hour and this compares with about 75,000 migrants in 1995 or 1340 per hour; and about 59,000 migrants in 1994 or about 900 per hour. And this is clear evidence of how relatively slow this fall's migration has been.
Unless something unusual is seen in the meantime which needs to be reported on immediately, the next scheduled update of this tape will be on Thursday, October 31st, and this will include a final summary of this month's totals from Hawk Ridge. As always, if you have birds to report you may leave a message after the tone...... beep.