Previous reports: July 1 , September 2 .
Other Hotlines: Minnesota Statewide

-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*September 2, 1999
*MNDU9909.02

-Birds mentioned

• Common Loon
• American White Pelican
• Bonaparte's Gull
• Ring-billed Gull
• Common Nighthawk
• Black-backed Woodpecker
• Connecticut Warbler

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: September 2, 1999
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, September 2, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

For the first time in about two months, after a quite uneventful summer in Duluth and northeastern Minnesota, this tape finally has some relatively current birding news of interest. Though there are no real rarities being seen, reports were received on a good concentration of loons and gulls on L. Winnibigoshish, a flock of AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS in Duluth, a leucistic or partial albino RING-BILLED GULL in Duluth, another flight of COMMON NIGHTHAWKS through Duluth, a BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER in Cook Co., and there are now some decent numbers of hawks and passerines being counted and banded at Hawk Ridge.

Peder Svingen and Karen Sussman did a census of water birds at L. Winnibigoshish in Cass/Itasca Co's on August 30, and their totals included good counts of 103 COMMON LOONS and 935 BONAPARTE'S GULL. Peder also reports that the partial albino or leucistic RING-BILLED GULL, which was seen last fall in Duluth, has returned to the harbor area; he saw it on August 28 at Bayfront Park.

On August 29, Ann Williams observed a flock of 30 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS flying down the North Shore in the direction of the Duluth-Superior harbor.

Though there was apparently no actual count taken, there was another good flight of COMMON NIGHTHAWKS through Duluth on the evening of August 27; good numbers had also been reported on the evenings of August 20 and 26.

A BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER was seen earlier this week up in Cook Co. about 3 miles up the Jackson Lake Rd. off the Arrowhead Trail; this road turns east off the Arrowhead Trail about 4 miles north of Hovland.

I have not yet seen the hawk totals for the month of August at Hawk Ridge, but there was apparently an above-average total of about 1,100 hawks counted. And the variety of warblers and other passerines being banded at the Ridge by Dave Grossheusch has been good, as evidenced by a total of 22 species of warblers being banded during August, including a CONNECTICUT WARBLER. (The only warblers regularly seen in Duluth which have not yet been banded this season are Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Orange-crowned and Pine.) With warm temperatures, south or east winds and a chance of rain in the forecast for the next couple days, the prospects for a good flight at Hawk Ridge this weekend do not look very promising until possibly Sunday or Monday, when it should be cooler but with still a continuing chance of rain in the forecast.

And speaking of Hawk Ridge, a reminder that our annual September Hawk Weekend is coming up, as it does every year, on the second weekend after Labor Day -- that is, on September 17-18-19. Motel rooms will be hard to find that weekend in Duluth, so those planning to attend should make lodging arrangements ASAP. For a schedule of events, a registration form or other information, contact the Naturalist, Dave Benson, at 218-728-5812, or by e-mail at . Dave can also provide you with information on the annual October Weekend birding event, which is also sponsored by Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve, scheduled for October 15-16-17.

Unless something unusual is seen in the meantime which needs to be reported immediately, this tape is normally updated once a week on Thursdays, so that the next scheduled update will be on September 9. The phone number is (218) 525-5952, and callers can leave a message if they wish after the tone at the end of the tape. Also note that a message can be left without having to wait for the Birding Report to end: after the tape starts playing, push 5 on a touch-tone phone, the tape will then stop, the tone will sound and you can leave your message.

The Duluth Birding Report is sponsored and funded by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU), the state bird club, 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 S E, Minneapolis MN 55455, or visit the MOU web site at .

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. From owner-mou-net@biosci.cbs.umn.edu Thu Sep 9 23:40 CDT 1999 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by biosci.cbs.umn.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id XAA17459 for mou-net-outgoing; Thu, 9 Sep 1999 23:33:23 -0500 (CDT) X-Authentication-Warning: biosci.cbs.umn.edu: majordom set sender to owner-mou-net@biosci.umn.edu using -f Message-Id: <199909100431.XAA07946@seagull.cpinternet.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 23:32:06 -0500

[mou] Sept. 9 Duluth Birding Report

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, September 9, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

This has certainly been the most interesting birding week for some time in Duluth, highlighted by a probable POMARINE JAEGER, a WHIMBREL, a FRANKLIN'S GULL and a partial albino RING-BILLED GULL, several SANDHILL CRANES, and the first significant movement this season of HAWKS at Hawk Ridge.

A juvenile dark-morph JAEGER was seen by Doug Buri on Sept. 7 on L. Superior from the Fitger's Building just east of downtown Duluth, and what was probably this same individual was reported by Nancy Jackson the next day over the lake out from 12th Street on Park Point. Neither observer was able to positively the jaeger, but later in the day on Sept. 8 Peder Svinger relocated the jaeger at Fitger's and felt it was most likely a POMARINE, based on its large size (seen in direct comparison with Ring-billed Gulls) and the rounded tips to the central tail feathers. Unfortunately no one was able to relocate the jaeger today, but if it is found again this tape would be updated with that information.

While searching for the jaeger today, Jim Lind saw a WHIMBREL flying north over Park Point at 12th Street, while Peder relocated that partial albino RING-BILLED GULL (which had first been seen in Duluth last fall) and the first AMERICAN PIPIT of the season, both at Fitger's. On Sept. 4, Peder also saw an adult FRANKLIN'S GULL at Bayfront Park in the Duluth harbor area, and on Sept. 5 this gull was seen again nearby at the D.E.C.C. parking lot.

At Hawk Ridge, several SANDHILL CRANES have been seen from the Main Overlook: 11 were seen on Sept. 5, 4 were seen Sept. 6, and today 3 more flew by. Also at Hawk Ridge today was a flock of 13 AM. WHITE PELICANS and a CASPIAN TERN.

The hawk migration at the Ridge has been steady this week, with several hundred birds each day since Sept. 6. About 400 to 500 SHARP-SHINNEDS have been counted each day, on Sept. 6 there were also 15 COOPER'S HAWKS, on Sept. 7 about 150 AM. KESTRELS were counted, and today the hawk total topped 1,000 for the first time this season, which included about 400 BROAD-WINGEDS and 2 SWAINSON'S HAWKS. And the flight should continue to be good the next couple days, with continued cool temperatures and west to northwest winds in the forecast.

Finally, another reminder that the annual Hawk Weekend will take place next weekend, Sept. 17-18-19, with birding field trips in Duluth both Saturday and Sunday mornings starting at 7 a.m., guided nature hikes both Saturday and Sunday at Hawk Ridge, and programs at U.M.D. starting at 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday (with a buffet dinner served before Saturday's program). For more information, call Dave Benson at 728-5812, or e-mail him at .

Unless something unusual is seen in the meantime which needs to be reported immediately, this tape is normally updated once a week on Thursdays, so that the next scheduled update will be on September 16. The phone number is (218) 525-5952, and callers can leave a message if they wish after the tone at the end of the tape. Also note that a message can be left without having to wait for the Birding Report to end: after the tape starts playing, push 5 on a touch-tone phone, the tape will then stop, the tone will sound and you can leave your message.

The Duluth Birding Report is sponsored and funded by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU), the state bird club, 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 S E, Minneapolis MN 55455, or visit the MOU web site at .

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