-RBA
*Minnesota
*Detroit Lakes
*March 26, 2009
*MNDL0903.26

-Birds mentioned -Transcript

Hotline: Minnesota, Detroit Lakes
Date: March 26, 2009
Sponsor: Lakes Area Birding Club, Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce
Reports: 1-800-542-3992 (weekdays during business hours)
Compiler: Jeanie Joppru (ajjoppru@q.com)

This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Thursday, March 26, 2009 sponsored by the Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce. You may also hear this report by calling (218)847-5743 or 1-800-433-1888.

Weather has been the main topic in the northwest this week, as the latest spring storm drags its way across the area, causing havoc everywhere. There is hardly a spot in the whole northwest where high water and icy roads are not an issue as I write this. This latest weather event has not stopped the bird migration however. There are now reports from most regions of all the common raptors - BALD EAGLES, NORTHERN HARRIERS, RED-TAILED HAWKS, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, AMERICAN KESTRELS, and MERLINS are returning to the area daily. Other species reported frequently include AMERICAN CROW, and COMMON GRACKLE.

A HOARY REDPOLL visited the backyard of Dan and Sandy Thimgan in Otter Tail County on March 23, a KILLDEER on March 24, and both SONG SPARROW and FOX SPARROW on March 25. On March 20, Tom Smith reported RED-TAILED HAWK, and NORTHERN HARRIER near Otter Tail Lake, and AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, and COMMON GRACKLE in Fergus Falls. Alma Ronningen reported 4-5 FOX SPARROWS and two RUSTY BLACKBIRDS on March 22. On the 24th, she saw a MERLIN, the first SANDHILL CRANES, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, and PURPLE FINCH, while a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK showed up in the yard on March 26. Brad and Dee Ehlers added COMMON LOON, 8 COMMON MERGANSERS, and CHIPPING SPARROW on March 25.

Dave Lambeth saw an adult RED-TAILED HAWK in Polk County south of East Grand Forks on March 21. Shelley Steva and I observed SHARP-TAILED GROUSE, MALLARDS and 15 AMERICAN ROBINS in Polk County on March 22, in addition to the raptors reported by nearly everyone.

Shelley Steva had an AMERICAN WOODCOCK fly over the road two miles east of Plummer in Red Lake County on March 23. On March 24, she saw a BELTED KINGFISHER near Oklee.

On March 22, Shelley and I noticed AMERICAN CROW numbers have increased in Pennington County. Shelley saw three immature BALD EAGLES and one RING-BILLED GULL in Pennington County on March 23.

Maggie Anderson reported from Agassiz NWR in Marshall County on March 26. Representatives of the following species have returned to the refuge: TRUMPETER SWAN, AMERICAN WIGEON, MALLARD, NORTHERN PINTAIL, LESSER SCAUP, COMMON GOLDENEYE, COMMON MERGANSER, HOODED MERGANSER, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, and DARK-EYED JUNCOS.

On March 22, Shelley and I saw an AMERICAN KESTREL in Clearwater County. Kelly Larson on March 24 saw a RED-TAILED HAWK south of Shevlin. A BALD EAGLE, and a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK were also seen. At the farm south of Bagley, Kelly reported three BARRED OWLS, AMERICAN ROBIN, and DARK-EYED JUNCO among others on March 26.

In Beltrami County on March 24, Kelly Larson reported WOOD DUCK, COMMON GRACKLE, and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD.

Larry Wilebski in Kittson County, reported that one SNOWY OWL remained on March 20 between Orleans and Humboldt. Other raptors such as NORTHERN HARRIER, RED-TAILED HAWK, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, and MERLIN have reached Kittson County this week.

Thanks to Brad and Dee Ehlers, Dave Lambeth, Kelly Larson, Larry Wilebski, Maggie Anderson, Alma Ronningen, Shelley Steva, Dan and Sandy Thimgan, and Tom Smith for their reports.

Please report bird sightings to Jeanie Joppru by email, no later than Thursday each week, at ajjoppru@q.com OR call the Detroit Lakes Chamber's toll free number: 1-800-542-3992. Detroit Lakes area birders please call 847-9202. Please include the county where the sighting took place. The next scheduled update of this report is Thursday, April 2, 2009.

Jeanie Joppru Pennington County, MN

--====1238116221====-- ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:42:28 -0600 Reply-To: Jim Mattsson Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: Jim Mattsson Subject: [mou-net] Golden-crowned Sparrow update, Dakota Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Friday, March 27 9:30am I know people like to plan ahead, so I thought I would provide this brief update. The GCSP has NOT been seen again since 4:30pm on Wednesday, Mar 25 when I photographed it in a feeder (see Recently Seen for image). I have made a concerted effort to sort through the 70+ juncos that cover my yard and feeders. It appears the bird has moved on, but, of course I will post if it returns. A bit or irony: missed this bird by 10 minutes in Duluth this winter. Jim Mattsson Eagan ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:15:33 -0600 Reply-To: dwaters@HAWKRIDGE.ORG Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: Rare Bird Alert Subject: [mou-net] Great Gray Owl, Duluth, St. Louis Co. Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; DelSp="Yes"; format="flowed" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi folks, A friend and I spotted a GREAT GRAY OWL in Duluth at about 7:30pm today. It was originally spotted on the roadway, then it flew into a roadside tree, gulped down some prey and then flew off into the woods. As we were leaving the area, we spotted it perched again in the trees on the side of the road. This bird was located on Stebner Rd about 1/4 mile south of Martin Road. The Stebner/Martin intersection is located about 1 mile west of Rice Lake Road on Martin Road. This is only a few miles from where an injured Great Gray Owl was rescued up about 5 weeks ago. Good owling! Debbie _______________________________ Debbie Waters Education Director Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory P.O. Box 3006 Duluth, MN 55803-3006 218.428.3539 dwaters@hawkridge.org www.hawkridge.org "I'm an early bird and I'm a night owl, so I'm wise and I have worms." --Michael Scott, The Office ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:04:21 -0600 Reply-To: Dave Bartkey Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: Dave Bartkey Subject: [mou-net] LeSueur Co. Golden Eagle Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi everyone=2C Dedrick Benz and I birded Rice=2C LeSueur and a little of Scott Counties = today. The highlight was definitely a juvenile Golden Eagle along CR 136=2C= just a short way north of Hwy. 99.=20 =20 Between the 3 counties=2C we ended up with 18 species of duck=2C plus Gre= ater White-fronted Geese in both LeSueur and Rice. =20 Also of note today were FOY Great Egrets (2)=2C Common Loon (1)=2C Fox Sp= arrows (many)=2C Pelicans (29)=2C and Brown-headed Cowbirds (several). =20 We spotted a single Northern Shrike as well! =20 Good birding! =20 Dave Bartkey Faribault=2C MN screechowl@q.com=20 ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=3Dmou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 13:39:41 -0600 Reply-To: Andrew Beerman Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: Andrew Beerman Subject: [mou-net] Loggerhead shrike near Lewiston Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Yesterday afternoon, about 5:30 pm I saw a=20 loggerhead shrike at the sewage ponds south=20 of Lewiston, along with several western=20 meadowlarks, and a horned lark. Andrew Beerman Winona ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=3Dmou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:10:52 -0600 Reply-To: Doug Kieser Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: Doug Kieser Subject: [mou-net] Lesser Black-backed Gull, Hennepin County Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was present in a flock of Ring-billed and= Herring Gulls on the ice of Diamond Lake, south Minneapolis, at 7:45 this = morning. At around 8:10 the entire flock flew off the ice for a minute or = so, when they landed the Lesser Black-backed Gull couldn't be relocated. I= later checked the gull flock at Lake Hiawatha but it wasn't among them. Doug Kieser Minneapolis ________________________________ This message contains information which may be confidential and privileged.= Unless you are the intended recipient (or authorized to receive this messa= ge for the intended recipient), you may not use, copy, disseminate or discl= ose to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If y= ou have received the message in error, please advise the sender by reply e-= mail, and delete the message. Thank you very much. ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=3Dmou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:52:15 -0600 Reply-To: Anthony Hertzel Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: Anthony Hertzel Subject: [mou-net] Eurasian Wigeon Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Bob Dunlap is reporting that today, 28 March, he, Dedrick Benz, and Dave Bartkey found a EURASIAN WIGEON at the north end of Peterson Lake in Wabasha County. They first saw it from the lake's boat launch and scrutinized it for signs of hybridization, which they did not find. - - - Anthony Hertzel -- axhertzel@sihope.com ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:46:13 -0700 Reply-To: Rare Bird Alert Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: Roger Schroeder Subject: Possible Slaty-backed Gull - Black Rush Lake - Lyon County Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Mime-Version: 1.0 Saturday, March 28 between 3:00pm and 4:30pm I was viewing what I beli= eve to be an adult Slaty-backed Gull. Thew bird flew off with other gulls a= bout 4:30pm. Black Rush Lake is iced covered, however, gulls have been retu= rning for several weeks as there is an active landfill adjacent to the area= where this bird was observed.

I have posted several photos at the = link below. All but the first one were taken using a Panasonic Lumix throug= h a spotting scope. They are not very good quality, but do show some charac= teristics of the bird in question. For size comparison, note in the first p= hoto the Herring Gull to the far right.

I am typing up my notes to b= e posted later.

I will be able to check the site sometime tomorrow = late-morning, and will post any pertinent information.

Sincerely,Roger Schroeder


LINK: http://singingwings.rohair.com/index.php?option=3Dcom_content&view= =3Darticle&id=3D152:possible-slaty-backed-gull-lyon-county-minnesota&am= p;catid=3D37:benefits&Itemid=3D55
========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 08:32:11 -0600 Reply-To: Brad Snelling Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: Brad Snelling Subject: [mou-net] golden-crowned sparrow (duluth) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable A brief siting of immature golden-crowned sparrow (duluth version) at about= 9 a.m. today. The bird was ground-feeding with a junco and song sparrow. =20 Brad Snelling 21 E. College St.=20 Duluth _________________________________________________________________ Express your personality in color! Preview and select themes for Hotmail=AE= . http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/LearnMore/personalize.aspx?ocid=3DTXT_MS= GTX_WL_HM_express_032009#colortheme= ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=3Dmou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 10:04:57 -0600 Reply-To: "David A. Cahlander" Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: "David A. Cahlander" Subject: [mou-net] Eurasian Wigeon Wabash County Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable At Peterson Lake, from the public access (West shore), behind the grass = point. Reported by Barb and Dennie Martin. --- David Cahlander david@cahlander.com Burnsville, MN 952-894-5910 ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=3Dmou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:12:25 -0600 Reply-To: Brad Snelling Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: Brad Snelling Subject: [mou-net] golden-crowned sparrow (duluth) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Duluth's golden-crowned sparrow was seen twice yesterday: once in the morni= ng=2C then again at around 3:30 p.m. I scattered seed on our deck last nigh= t and have seen the bird again today between 12 and 12:30 p.m. This is the = first that I have seen the bird on consecutive days since December. =20 Brad Snelling 21 College St. Duluth _________________________________________________________________ Express your personality in color! Preview and select themes for Hotmail=AE= . http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/LearnMore/personalize.aspx?ocid=3DTXT_MS= GTX_WL_HM_express_032009#colortheme= ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=3Dmou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:48:41 -0600 Reply-To: Andrew Beerman Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: Andrew Beerman Subject: [mou-net] Eurasian Wigeon, Tundra Swans, Pelicans, Wabasha area Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable The Eurasion wigeon was still present this morning at Peterson Lake betwe= en=20 Wabasha and Kellog feeding with a small flock of American wigeons directl= y=20 across from the public boat access ramp (County road 24). Also further=20= downstream in the Mississippi River near Weaver is a large flock of Tundr= a=20 swans and pelicans.=20 Andrew Beerman ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=3Dmou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:04:26 -0600 Reply-To: Brad Snelling Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: Brad Snelling Subject: [mou-net] golden-crowned sparrow pic (duluth) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I wasn't quick enough to get to my camera yesterday=2C but was able to fire= off a shot (through glass) when I saw the gcsp over lunch today. It's the = first photo that I have of this bird that doesn't have snow in the backgrou= nd. =20 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3D46147&id=3D665509798&l=3Dbb284400e6 =20 Brad Snelling 21 E. College St. Duluth _________________________________________________________________ Internet Explorer 8 =96 Get your Hotmail Accelerated. Download free! http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/141323790/direct/01/= ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=3Dmou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:30:29 -0600 Reply-To: Sandy Roggenkamp Sender: Rare Bird Alert From: Sandy Roggenkamp Subject: [mou-net] Great Gray Owl/St.LouisCo. Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Saw a Great Gray Owl on the north side of CR 49, about .2 mile east of TH 53 yesterday evening at 4:30. I hope this one fares better than the one Mike H. reported on CR 133 yesterday. Sandy Roggenkamp Canyon ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html