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Other Hotlines: Minnesota Duluth/North Shore | Detroit Lakes

-RBA
*Minnesota
*Minnesota Statewide
*October 9, 2003
*MNST0310.09

-Birds mentioned

• Red-throated Loon
• Snowy Egret
• Cattle Egret
• Snow Goose
• Black Scoter
• Surf Scoter
• White-winged Scoter
• American Golden-Plover
• Ruddy Turnstone
• Dunlin
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Parasitic Jaeger
• Black-legged Kittiwake
• Townsend's Solitaire
• American Pipit
• Bohemian Waxwing
• Northern Shrike
• American Tree Sparrow
• Harris's Sparrow
• Smith's Longspur
• Rusty Blackbird
• Red Crossbill
• White-winged Crossbill
• Common Redpoll

Hotline: Minnesota Statewide
Date: October 9, 2003
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU) http://biosci.umn.edu/~mou/
Reports: (763) 780-8890
Compiler: Anthony Hertzel
Transcriber: Anthony Hertzel (ahertzel@sihope.com)
(envelope-from axhertzel@sihope.com)

This is the Minnesota Birding Report for Thursday October 9th.

Laura Erickson reported an adult BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE October 3rd at the Superior Entry of Wisconsin Point. It was in the shipping lane on the Minnesota side of the breakwater. All previous 31 records of kittiwake have been of immatures.

Also in Duluth, a dark-morph PARASITIC JAEGER has been seen from various points along Park Point since the 7th, most recently having been seen on the 9th; a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE has been at main overlook at Hawk Ridge for the past several days; and a SMITH'S LONGSPUR was still at the south end of the main pool at 40th Avenue West on the 3rd.

A RED-THROATED LOON was at Good Harbor Bay in Cook County on the 7th.

BLACK SCOTER, WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, and SURF SCOTER were all on Lake Superior in Cook County on the 8th. There seems to be an influx of Surf Scoters occurring in northern Minnesota. In Marshall County a single Surf Scoter was at the Warren sewage ponds on the 6th, and on the 8th two were at the South Pool of Agassiz NWR; two Surf Scoters were on Lake Bemidji in Beltrami County on the 4th, seen from the Paul Bunyan Bicycle Trail along the east side of the lake; and two more Surf Scoters were on Wigwam Bay of Mille Lacs Lake on the 6th - check near the breakwater by the intersection of county road 25 and U.S. highway 169.

A SNOWY EGRET was at Rush Lake in Otter Tail County on the 5th.

The October 4th survey of shorebirds at Agassiz NWR in Marshall County produced a state record 304 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS among the 12 species tallied. More than one hundred AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS were in a field to the south of the Red Lake sewage ponds in Red Lake County on the 6th. And on October 4th, 172 American Golden-Plover were two miles west of Wilkin County Roads 15 and 30.

Twelve CATTLE EGRETS were in a pasture in Grant County on the 5th. From Douglas County Road 19 turn west on Grant County Road 54 for one mile, then turn north on Ashby Estates Road East for about a mile.

A record tying early COMMON REDPOLL was at Zippel Bay State Park in Lake of the Woods County on October 4th.

Many people have reported migrant SNOW GEESE in the past few days, and I also have recent reports of DUNLIN, RUDDY TURNSTONE, NORTHERN SHRIKE, AMERICAN PIPIT, BOHEMIAN WAXWING, AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, HARRIS'S SPARROW, RUSTY BLACKBIRD, RED CROSSBILL, and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL.

This state-wide birding report is brought to you and financially supported by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU). The MOU is Minnesota's oldest and largest bird club.

The report is composed from observations generously submitted by MOU members and other birders throughout the state. You can support this weekly update by submitting your bird reports to Anthony Hertzel at axhertzel@sihope.com or by calling the hotline directly at 763-780-8890 and leaving a detailed message.

MOU members receive this report directly on MOU-net, the club's free e-mail listservice, which is available to anyone interested. For information contact David Cahlander at .

MOU members receive the organization's quarterly journal "The Loon" and the bimonthly magazine, "Minnesota Birding". For membership information, send an e-mail message to our membership secretary at moumembers@yahoo.com.

In cooperation with the Minnesota Office of Tourism, highlights of this hotline can be now heard at a toll free number which is available to callers outside the Twin Cities area. The number is 1-800-657-3700.

The MOU is pleased to offer this service. Thank you, and good birding.

The next scheduled update of this tape is Thursday, October 15th.

-- Anthony X. Hertzel -- axhertzel@sihope.com

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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