Previous reports: September 30 , October 7 14 21 28 , November 4 11 18 24 28 .
Other Hotlines: Minnesota Statewide

-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*December 2, 1999
*MNDU9912.02

-Birds mentioned

• Common Loon
• Trumpeter Swan
• King Eider
• Harlequin Duck
• Peregrine Falcon
• Bonaparte's Gull
• Thayer's Gull
• Iceland Gull
• Glaucous-winged Gull
• Glaucous Gull
• Great Black-backed Gull
• Black-legged Kittiwake
• Snowy Owl
• Northern Hawk Owl
• Great Gray Owl
• Black-backed Woodpecker
• Horned Lark
• Townsend's Solitaire
• Meadowlark (species)

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: December 2, 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 Thursday, December 2, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

There was an unscheduled update of this tape on Nov 28, primarily to report on all the birding activity in Grand Marais and vicinity last weekend, when KING EIDER, 5 HARLEQUIN DUCKS, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL and ICELAND GULL were all seen.

The female-plumaged KING EIDER, which had first been seen in the Grand Marais harbor Nov 22, was relocated on Lake Superior 6 mi E of Grand Marais at mile marker 116; and this bird was still at this same location as of yesterday. A total of 5 HARLEQUIN DUCKS were also seen last weekend: 3 in the Grand Marais harbor and 2 at Hovland, which is about 18 mi E of Grand Marais; it is not known if any of these have been seen since then.

A 1st-winter BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE was seen Nov 26 along Hwy 61 near Five Mile Rock, which is 5 mi E of Grand Marais, but it has not been relocated since then. This is presumably the same bird which was seen briefly at Grand Marais on Nov 21.

A 2nd-winter GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, which had first been seen in the Grand Marais harbor Nov 15, was relocated there and photographed last weekend, and it was still present as of yesterday. A 1st-winter ICELAND GULL was also present in the harbor yesterday, as it has been since Nov 13.

Back in St Louis Co, several birds of note have also been seen this week -- especially some northern owls. A NORTHERN HAWK OWL was found today in the Sax-Zim Bog area, NW of Duluth. It was along St Louis Co Rd 7, 0.4 mi S of Co Rd 52, and it was last seen flying towards the north. To my knowledge, this is only the second hawk owl to be seen in Minn so far this season. A TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE was also seen near here today, at the intersection of Co Rds 7 and 52.

Also in Sax-Zim, a GREAT GRAY OWL was found at dusk on Nov 29; it was east of Meadowlands along Co Rd 133, 1.8 mi W of Co Rd 7. So far this season, I am aware of only one other Great Gray being seen in Minn.

The first SNOWY OWL of the season to appear in Duluth was at the Port Terminal in the harbor today. This is about the 5th Snowy to be reported so far in Minn this season. At one point it was being harrassed by a PEREGRINE FALCON, another Peregrine -- or the same one -- was seen at the 40th Ave W Erie Pier area Nov 30.

Other birds of note in Duluth-Superior include: a BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER flying by Hawk Ridge yesterday; a neck-banded TRUMPETER SWAN seen today in the harbor by the I-535 bridge; and a count of nearly 5,000 gulls at Wisconsin Pt in Superior Nov 30 -- most of these were on the Allouez Bay side of the point, and they included a 1st-winter GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL, 6 THAYER'S GULL, and 6 GLAUCOUS GULL.

At Hawk Ridge, Frank Nicoletti has added up the hawk totals for the month of November, and they include:

1,457 Bald Eagles 14 N Harriers 6 Sharp-shinneds 1 Cooper's 114 N Goshawks 634 Red-taileds 386 Rough-leggeds 68 Golden Eagles 19 unidentifieds

The best November day was the 28th, when 147 raptors were counted, 109 of these Bald Eagles; the overall total for the month was about 2,700.

On the W side of Mille Lacs L, 1 mi N of the Aitkin - Mille Lacs Co line, that HARLEQUIN DUCK was seen again on Nov 29; this bird was first found here back on Oct 23.

With all this relatively warm weather that has been prevailing in recent weeks, there have been some late-lingering migrants seen this week in NE Minn; these include large numbers of raptors still in the Sax-Zim Bog, an unidentified MEADOWLARK Nov 29 at a Lake Co feeder, a COMMON LOON and almost 700 BONAPARTE'S GULLS on Mille Lacs L, a HORNED LARK today in Duluth, and large numbers of waterfowl still lingering in the entirely ice-free Duluth harbor.

Finally, be sure to note that the annual Duluth Christmas Bird Count will take place on Saturday, Dec 18, and there is a new compiler this year, Jim Lind, who has started contacting participants. More information on the count will be included on next week's birding report, but in the meantime if you would like to participate you can call Jim by day at work, 720-4384, or in the evening and on weekends at home in Two Harbors, 834-3435.

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 December 9. 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 .

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