-RBA
*Minnesota
*Minnesota Statewide
*August 25, 1997
*MNST9808.25

-Birds mentioned

• CLARK'S GREBE
• Mississippi Kite
• American Avocet
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Stilt Sandpiper
• Buff-breasted Sandpiper
• Wilson's Phalarope
• Red-necked Phalarope
• Jaegar species
• Bonaparte's Gull
• Ring-billed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Barn Owl
• Carolina Wren
• Golden-winged Warbler
• Black-throated Blue Warbler
• Bay-breasted Warbler
• Wilson's Warbler
• LARK BUNTING

Hotline: Minnesota Statewide
Date: August 25, 1997
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (612) 780-8890
Compiler: Anthony Hertzel
Transcriber: Anthony Hertzel
Re-transcriber: David Cahlander (dac@skypoint.com)

This is the Minnesota statewide birding report for Thursday August 27th sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

I have a second hand report of a LARK BUNTING seen August 25th at the ball fields located near the end of 66th Street west of the Minneapolis Airport. Despite extensive searching on the 26th, there have been no further sightings of this immature bird.

I have an unusual report from August 21st. Three possible BARN OWLS were reported from Hidden Falls along the Mississippi River in St. Paul. The birds were seen at the first wooden bridge north of the pavilion. This would be an unusual location for Barn Owls, and I am not yet certain of their identity.

Also interesting was the MISSISSIPPI KITE reported from Chisago County on the 17th. The location was somewhat vague, being along I-35 somewhere between six and eight miles south of Chisago City.

A CLARK'S GREBE was found by Kim Eckert on August 15th at Thielke Lake in southwestern Big Stone County.

On August 27, Doug Campbell counted 5,000 BONAPARTE'S GULL, plus numerous RING-BILLED GULL and HERRING GULLS along the shore of Lower Red Lake in Beltrami County. This was from the overlook next to the water tower in the town of Red Lake. Doug also observed an unidentified JAEGAR chasing gulls out over the lake, and this may be the first jaegar record for Beltrami County.

Leslie Kotkke has a CAROLINA WREN at her feeder in Rochester, Olmsted County. The bird appeared on August 18th. This may be the same bird that spent much of last winter there, and departed only a couple of months ago. Indeed, the bird may never have actually left. Please call Leslie before visiting at 507-280-9444.

Thousands of shorebirds are still being reported from Minnesota Lake in northeastern Faribault County. Most of these are LESSER YELLOWLEGS, PECTORAL SANDPIPER, STILT SANDPIPERS, but many BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS are turning up as well, as are a few WILSON'S PHALAROPE and RED-NECKED PHALAROPES. Four AMERICAN AVOCETS were seen here on the 22nd. Four BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS were at the Robinson Sod Farms on the 15th, along Anoka County Road 14 just east of Lexington Ave.

Warbler migration is in full swing and many observers are reporting better than expected numbers. On the 15th, a BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER was seen at Rice Creek Park in Fridely, Anoka County along with 18 other species of warbler, including WILSON'S WARBLER, GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER and BAY-BREASTED WARBLER. 25 species were reported by Betsy Beneke at Tamarac NWR in Becker County on the 16th and on the 20th Chet Meyers reported about 14 species from Ceder Lake Park in Minneapolis.

For information on joining our state wide bird organization write the MOU at 10 Church Street SE, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis MN, 55455 or e-mail us at MOUMembers@aol.com. The next scheduled update of this tape is Thursday September 3rd.

Send your rare and unusual Minnesota sightings to our electronic hotline: MnRBA@linux.winona.msus.edu. To learn more, send a message (the message being these two words: info end) to mnrba-request@linux.winona.msus.edu.

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