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-RBA *Minnesota *Duluth/North Shore *February 27, 1997 *MNDU9702.27 -Birds mentioned
Hotline: Minnesota Duluth/North Shore
Date: February 27, 1997
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 525-5952
Compiler: Kim Eckert
Transcriber: Deb Savageau mdebbrdr@aol.com
Re-transcriber: David Cahlander (dac@skypoint.com)
Since last week's tape, both live and dead BOREAL OWLS are continuing to show up in Duluth and vicinity. NORTHERN HAWK OWLS and SNOWY OWLS also continue to be seen. GREAT GRAY OWLS however seem to be disappearing to some extent. SPRUCE GROUSE, VARIED THRUSH and BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were all seen again since last week. RUFFED GROUSE, BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES, BOREAL CHICKADEES, NORTHERN SHRIKE, SNOW BUNTINGS, both PINE and EVENING GROSBEAKS and both WHITE-WINGED and RED CROSSBILLS are still being seen at various locations. And for a change of pace, there was an unexpected report of three RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS February 25th on the St. Louis River in Duluth, even thought the species is not expected to arrive for another month or so.
Tim Dawson reports that his BOREAL OWL was still being seen today in his yard [1] just north of Duluth. Now the owl most often appears around 6 pm. Birders can park on Arnold Rd and they have permission to walk up the driveway and look for the owl in the trees near the bird feeders.
As reported on last week's tape, another BOREAL OWL was seen in Don Kienholz's yard [1] on Martin Rd on two evenings last week and reappeared this week the evening of February 24th so it may still be present. And Carol Bergeson who lives on Lavaque Junction Rd, Hermantown saw a BOREAL OWL in her yard as recently as Feb 25th and this individual has apparently been present intermittently since December.
Unfortunately, dead BOREAL OWLS, undoubtedly a result of starvation, also continue to be picked up in and around Duluth.
Several NORTHERN HAWK OWLS are still being seen in Duluth and vicinity with recent sightings at Stoney Point and the Hegberg Rd 1 1/2 miles east of McQuade Rd. Two individuals just northwest of Two Harbors along Lake County Rd 12, at the corner of Martin and and Stebner Rd., in the Sax-Sim Bog area at the intersection of St. Louis County Rd 7 and 52 and on County Rd 28 one mile west of County Rd 7 and on U.S. Hwy 2 one mile east of the St. Louis/Aitkin County line.
HAWK OWLS as well as GREAT GRAY and SNOWY OWLS can still be found in Aitkin County west of Duluth and as always for information on these you can call Warren Nelson in the town of Aitkin. [2]
SNOWY OWLS are still present as well in various locations in Superior and in the Duluth/Superior harbor area. But there have no GREAT GRAYS reported in Duluth or the Sax-Zim bog in nearly 2 weeks.
SPRUCE GROUSE were seen again recently along Lake County Rd 2 a few miles south of Minnesota Hwy 1 and they were also seen on Hwy 1 northwest of County Rd 2 at various locations between mile markers 304 & 302.
That cooperative VARIED THRUSH was still present along east Superior St. as of last weekend. [1]
Some BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS along with some CEDARS were also seen in the same neighborhood recently. Some BOHEMIANS were also seen briefly in Two Harbors last weekend.
The next scheduled update of this tape will be on Thursday March 6th.
[1] Location deleted. Call (218) 525-5952 to get the full message. [2] Telephone number deleted. Call (218) 525-5952 to get the full message.