-RBA
*Minnesota
*Duluth/North Shore
*October 15, 2009
*MNDU0910.15

• White-winged Scoter
• Long-tailed Duck
• Red-throated Loon
• Gyrfalcon
• Thayer's Gull
• Lesser Black-backed Gull
• Parasitic Jaeger
• White-winged Dove
• Short-eared Owl
• Black-backed Woodpecker
• Tree Swallow
• Bohemian Waxwing
• Blackburnian Warbler
• Vesper Sparrow
• Yellow-headed Blackbird
• Purple Finch

Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore
Date: October 15, 2009
Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU)
Reports: (218) 834-2858
Compiler: Jim Lind ([log in to unmask])

This is the Duluth Birding Report for Thursday, October 15th, 2009 sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.

The WHITE-WINGED DOVE at the 40th Avenue West Erie Pier Area was last reported on the 10th. Peder Svingen saw a SHORT-EARED OWL at 40th Avenue on the 13th. He also saw a PARASITIC JAEGER and an adult RED-THROATED LOON on the 12th at the Park Point Recreation Area. Peder saw a first-cycle THAYER'S GULL on the 13th on the Minnesota side of the Superior Entry, and an adult and a first-cycle on the 11th at Wisconsin Point. He saw an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL on the 12th and three WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS on the 13th at Wisconsin Point, as well as a TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE along Moccasin Mike Road on the 11th.

An immature GYRFALCON was caught and banded by Frank Nicoletti on the 9th near Hawk Ridge. Several observers have reported a LONG-TAILED DUCK this week on the bay side of Park Point between 37th and 42nd Street. Mike Hendrickson reported a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER at 42nd Street on the 15th. Kim Eckert saw a YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD on the 14th and a BOHEMIAN WAXWING on the 11th along West Kent Road near the UMD campus.

Peder Svingen and Phil Chu found single VESPER SPARROWS on the 10th at Castle Danger in Lake County and at Colville in Cook County. Jan Green saw a VESPER SPARROW on the 12th along the Homestead Road (CR 42), 0.5 mile north of MN Highway 61. Jan saw a BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER on the 9th at Lighthouse Point in Two Harbors as well as late-migrating TREE SWALLOWS along the Old North Shore Road (CR 292).

After counting over than 2,100 PURPLE FINCHES flying northeastward along the North Shore a week ago, Cameron Rutt and others counted 2,035 headed in the expected southwesterly direction on the 12th. Jeff Fischer saw a late-migrating BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER on the 9th at Split Rock Lighthouse. Two SHORT-EARED OWLS were seen north of Two Harbors on the 12th along the Waldo Road (CR 122), 0.5 mile north of CR 12.

The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, October 22nd.

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, e-mail us at [log in to unmask], or visit the MOU web site at moumn.org.