Previous reports: July 1 , September 2 9 16 19 23 .
Other Hotlines: Minnesota Statewide

-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*September 30, 1999
*MNDU9909.30

-Birds mentioned

• Pacific Loon
• Turkey Vulture
• Osprey
• Bald Eagle
• Northern Harrier
• Sharp-shinned Hawk
• Cooper's Hawk
• Northern Goshawk
• Broad-winged Hawk
• Swainson's Hawk
• Red-tailed Hawk
• American Kestrel
• Merlin
• Peregrine Falcon
• Buff-breasted Sandpiper
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Pomarine Jaeger
• Black-backed Woodpecker
• Gray Jay
• Black-billed Magpie

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: September 30, 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: Terry Brashear (beakgeek@scientist.com)

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, September 30, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

Unfortunately, the birding recently in Duluth and northeastern Minn has not been quite as eventful as in previous weeks. At least, however, that POMARINE JAEGER and PACIFIC LOON, which both turned up in Duluth two weeks ago, were each seen again since last week's tape and might possibly still be present. The jaeger was last reported Sept 25, again on L Superior between Canal Park and the Fitger's Bldg, while the loon was reported as recently as the 28th, again up the North Shore about 1/2 mile beyond Lakewood Rd.

Most of the other birds of note seen recently were found northeast of Duluth. Jim Lind reported a BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE Sept 25 a few miles north of Stony Pt along the West Knife River Rd, about a mile west of the end of the Homestead Rd. Jim also found LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS Sept 24 at the Two Harbors airport in Lake Co, and on Sept 26 at both the Beaver Bay sewage ponds (also in Lake Co) and Taconite Harbor in Cook Co. Also in Cook Co was a late BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER seen yesterday in Grand Marais on the east side of the harbor.

Back in Duluth, the first few GRAY JAYS of the season were seen this week at Hawk Ridge, and yesterday, the 29th, a BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER flew over the Main Overlook. Meanwhile, the raptor migration at the Ridge has been steady the last few days with about 900 hawks counted on both Sept 28 and 29 and nearly 700 today. A total of 30 NORTHERN GOSHAWKS was seen during these 3 days, and on both the 28th and 29th over 100 RED-TAILED HAWKS were counted.

The total hawk count from the Main Overlook for the month of September has been tentatively added up. Note these numbers have not yet been double-checked, and they do not include hawks counted during August or those seen at the Banding Station:

TURKEY VULTURE 1,092 OSPREY 369 BALD EAGLE 592 NORTHERN HARRIER 813 SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 13,831 COOPER'S HAWK 203 NORTHERN GOSHAWK 53 BROAD-WINGED HAWK 86,585 RED-TAILED HAWK 818 AMERICAN KESTREL 2,428 MERLIN 129 PEREGRINE FALCON 52 SWAINSON'S HAWK 17 UNIDENTIFIED 4 SEPTEMBER TOTAL 106,986

As mentioned on last week's tape, the Broad-winged Hawk total and the season total are both the second highest counts ever at Hawk Ridge. The number of Cooper's Hawks is also above average, and the Am Kestrel total is within a couple hundred of setting a new record for a season. On the other hand, the totals for Osprey and Merlin are both running below average.

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 October 7. 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.

Return to Home Page