Minnesota Duluth/North Shore RBA

Duluth RBA phone number: 218-834-2858

Previous reports: August 17 24 31, September 7 14 21 28.
Other Hotlines: Minnesota Statewide | Detroit Lakes


-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*October 5, 2006
*MNDU0610.05

-Birds mentioned -Transcript

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: October 5, 2006
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 834-2858
Compiler: Jim Lind (jslind@frontiernet.net)

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, October 5th, 2006 sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

A significant GRAY JAY migration is underway along the North Shore, with dozens of sightings over the past week. Recent sightings include three seen by Don Keinholz at 40th Ave West in Duluth on the 2nd, ten seen by Jim Williams at Lutsen on the 2nd, several found by Ann Russ's 5th grade class on the 3rd in Grand Marais, 12 seen on the 4th by Sharon Lind in Two Harbors, 22 seen by Sarah Grosshuesch today between Duluth and Two Harbors, 19 found today at Castle Danger, and multiples found by Jan Green at Two Harbors and Stoney Point this week.

This afternoon I found a lone SMITH'S LONGSPUR at the Castle Danger landfill in Lake County. It was in the large open grassy field to the west of the sewage lagoons. A VESPER SPARROW was also seen nearby. The landfill is located on CR 106, about 1.5 miles west and north of MN 61 at the Rustic Inn restaurant.

There were several interesting sightings from Park Point in Duluth over the past week, mainly from the 31st Street access at Lafayette Square. The POMARINE JAEGER was again found by several observers over the weekend and this week, and two were seen simultaneously on the 3rd. At least five PARASITIC JAEGERS were seen on the 1st by Peder Svingen and others, with at least one PARASITIC JAEGER seen this week. Mike Hendrickson found three BLACK SCOTERS today, and two SURF SCOTERS were seen on the 3rd. Mike relocated an adult ARCTIC TERN on September 30th, as well as a PACIFIC LOON and a RED-THROATED LOON. Peder Svingen found a SHORT-EARED OWL flying over the lake at Lafayette Square on the 4th. Denny and Barb Martin found a juvenile LITTLE GULL on the 1st as well as an unidentified jaeger, possibly a Long-tailed. Joshua and Ben Yokel relocated the Little Gull on the 2nd.

Sparky Stensaas found a BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER on the 4th at the Hawk Ridge pine plantation. Gordy Martinson reported two ROSS'S GEESE this week at the Lester Park golf course in east Duluth, along with CACKLING GEESE and CANADA GEESE. The PURPLE SANDPIPER near Bena on Lake Winnibigoshish in Cass County has not been seen since September 29th.

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, October 12th.

The telephone number of the Duluth Rare Bird Alert is 218-834-2858. Information about bird sightings may be left following the recorded message.

The Duluth Birding Report is sponsored and funded by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU) as a service to its members. For more information on the MOU, either write us c/o the Bell Museum to mou@cbs.umn.edu, or visit the MOU web site at moumn.org.

Send your rare and unusual Minnesota sightings to our internet list sevice: MOU-net@cbs.umn.edu.
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