Duluth RBA

Duluth RBA phone number: 218-525-5952

Previous reports: July 1 , September 2 9 16 .
Other Hotlines: Minnesota Statewide 

-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*September 19, 1999
*MNDU9909.19

-Birds mentioned
-Transcript

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

As mentioned on last Thursday's tape, with so many birders in town this weekend, there was a good chance of some birds of note being seen in Duluth and vicinity so that there would be an update of this birding report today. And this was the case with that POMARINE JAEGER and PACIFIC LOON both being relocated, and there were also reports this weekend of BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, PARASITIC JAEGER and LARK SPARROW.

Although there had been no sightings since Sept 12 of that POMARINE JAEGER which had been found near downtown Duluth on Sept 7, several observers saw it yesterday, Sept 18. The jaeger is a dark juvenile, and is best identified by its size being the same as a Ring-billed Gull and by the rounded tips of the slightly protruding central tail feathers. The bird has always been seen on the lake between Canal Park and the Fitger's Building, and it seems to spend more of its time resting on the lake surface than it does chasing gulls. Whether or not people are able to find it does not seem to depend on the weather or time of day.

There were apparently no sightings of the Pomarine today, but three JAEGERS were seen over Lake Superior out from the Sky Harbor Airport just south of the Park Point Recreation Area. One of these was identified as an adult light-morph PARASITIC, another was a probable Parasitic, and the third jaeger was too far out away to identify.

That PACIFIC LOON found Sept 13 along the North Shore was seen again by many observers this weekend, including today. This bird is apparently an adult in basic (winter) plumage, and it has most often been seen in the vicinity of the Lakewood Pumping Station. However, it moves around a lot: this morning, for example, it was observed about a mile NE of Lakewood near 90th Ave East and later today around noon it was down at Brighton Beach, about 2 mi SW of Lakewood.

Also of note were the BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS found Sept 17 along the runway of the Two Harbors Airport in Lake Co, which is located 2 mi N and 3 mi W of town. On Sept 16 a LARK SPARROW was found along the road to Wisconsin Point in Superior, near the south end of Allouez Bay. And that partial albino RING-BILLED GULL, which had been seen earlier this month, was seen again today in Duluth at Bayfront Park, which is just west of the D.E.C.C.

Unless something unusual is seen in the meantime which needs to be reported immediately, the Duluth Birding Report is normally updated once a week on Thursdays, so that the next scheduled update will be on Sept. 23. 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 SE, 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.



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