Minnesota Statewide RBA

Statewide RBA phone number: 763-780-8890 or 1-800-657-3700

Previous reports: October 19 26 , November 2 9 16 22 30 , December 7 14 17 .
Other Hotlines: Minnesota Duluth/North Shore | Detroit Lakes


-RBA
*Minnesota
*Minnesota Statewide
*December 20, 2001
*MNST0112.20

-Birds mentioned
-Transcript

Hotline: Minnesota Statewide
Date: December 20, 2001
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU) http://biosci.umn.edu/~mou/
Reports: (763) 780-8890
Compiler: Anthony Hertzel
Transcriber: Anthony Hertzel (ahertzel@uswest.net)

This is the Minnesota Birding Report for Monday December 17th, sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

The male BRAMBLING that was discovered at a feeder in Otter Tail County on December 16th is still being seen daily. For privacy reasons, the home owners' name, address, and phone number will not be given out, and birders are asked to please not share this information should they somehow discover it. Everyone is welcome to visit under some specific guidelines, and these are as follows:

Visiting is restricted to daylight hours from Monday through Thursday. No one may visit on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday under any circumstances.

All birders are asked to please not visit on December 24th (Christmas Eve) or December 25th (Christmas Day) at any time.

Under no circumstances may the home owners' name, address, or phone number be posted anywhere on the internet.

With these guidelines in place and agreed upon, here are the directions: The bird is being seen near the town of Battle Lake. From town, drive west on Otter Tail County road 83 to county road 122. Turn west here and drive to Big Buck Road. Keeping to the right, follow this road 1.5 miles to the dead end and look for the cedar house. The feeder is behind this house on the back deck. Birders are free to observe from the upper deck but may not walk in or around the yard or investigate any other areas.

Finally, note that this is a shy, skittish bird, so please enjoy it quietly.

That potential third state record ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD in south Minneapolis had not been seen for several days and was presumed to have moved on. However, I have a late report of it being seen Wednesday morning.

On the 17th, the North Shore of Lake Superior in Cook County produced several good observations. These included a HARLEQUIN DUCK in the Grand Marais harbor, and another was at Paradise Beach, about 14 miles northeast of Grand Marais. And a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE was found singing at Grand Marais campground.

A VARIED THRUSH is visiting a home on the east side of Cotton Lake in Becker County. The home owner has given permission for anyone interested to visit. Please call the state birding report for her address at 763-780-8890.

Two SNOWY OWLS were reported from Becker County. On the 19th one was along county road 15, one half north of its junction with county road 22. Another was seen on the 18th along county road 37, about three and a half miles north of the junction with county road 26. And a Snowy Owl in still the Duluth harbor area off of Garfield Avenue. Check near the Northstar Steel Company.

On the 15th, a LONG-TAILED DUCK was discovered in Olmsted County at the gravel pit pond south of U.S. highway 14 and just west of U.S. highway 52.

A group of five SPRUCE GROUSE was found the Spruce Grouse in Lake County on the 14th. They were seen just north of the bridge that crosses the Langley River.

An adult GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL was at the Burnsville Dump in Dakota County on the 15th. Another Great Black-backed was seen on Lake Minnetonka, Hennepin County, on the same day. This was on the west side of Lafayette Bay.

On the 15th, Randy Frederickson reported a first winter GLAUCOUS GULL at the Kandiyohi County landfill, which is located about eight miles north of Willmar on highway 71. On the 14th, Doug Johnson found an adult Glaucous Gull in Beltrami County on the shore of Lake Bemidji in downtown Bemidji across from the McDonald's Restaurant. This represents a first county record.

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 reports generously submitted by MOU members and other birders throughout the state. You can support this weekly birding update by submitting your bird reports to Anthony Hertzel at ahertzel@qwest.net 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 Paul Budde at PBUDDE@aol.com.

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

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

The next scheduled update of this tape is Thursday, December 27th.

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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