-RBA *Minnesota *Duluth/North Shore *May 5, 2011 *MNDU1105.05 -Birds mentioned King Eider Long-tailed Duck Ruddy Duck Spruce Grouse Wild Turkey American Bittern Sora Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Willet Lesser Yellowlegs Pectoral Sandpiper Bonaparte's Gull Laughing Gull Great Black-backed Gull Caspian Tern Forster's Tern American Pipit Orange-crowned Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Pine Warbler Palm Warbler Black-and-white Warbler Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Spotted Towhee Eastern Towhee Clay-colored Sparrow Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Rose-breasted Grosbeak Yellow-headed Blackbird -Transcript Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore Date: May 5, 2011 Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU) Reports: (218) 834-2858 Compiler: Jim Lind ([log in to unmask]) This is the Duluth Birding Report for May 5th, 2011 sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. An immature male KING EIDER was found by Jan Kraemer on the 5th at the Sky Harbor Airport on the bay side of Park Point in Duluth. It was relocated later in the day, along with least 1,200 BONAPARTE'S GULLS, at Hearding Island at 19th Street on Park Point. The LAUGHING GULL found by Jan at the Park Point recreational area was last seen there on the 29th. Frank Nicoletti reported what was possibly the same bird on the 1st at Gull Bluff near the base of Wisconsin Point. Peder Svingen relocated the immature GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL at Hearding Island on the 2nd. A SPOTTED TOWHEE was found by Mike Hendrickson on the 30th in his yard in the Smithville neighborhood of west Duluth. Cindy and Vern Krienke found a WILLET at the Park Point recreational area, and Tony Mitchell saw 8 WILLETS at Canal Park on the 1st. Chris Elmgren found a YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD on 35th Street at Park Point on the 30th. A FIELD SPARROW was seen on the 28th at the Sky Harbor Airport. Ron Erpelding and Herb Dingmann saw a RUDDY DUCK in Lake County on the 29th at the Castle Danger sewage lagoons, and another at the Beaver Bay sewage lagoons. They also saw two LONG-TAILED DUCKS at Agate Bay in Two Harbors, and a SPRUCE GROUSE in Cook County on the Lima Mountain Road at the Gunflint Rail (CR 12). Dee Kuder saw a SPRUCE GROUSE on the 29th in northern St Louis County off the Echo Trail (CR 116) between the Moose River and the Portage River. Jan Green saw an EASTERN TOWHEE on the 3rd along the Old North Shore Road in Duluth Township. Another was seen on the 4th in Two Harbors on the 300 block of 2nd Avenue. JG Bennett saw a WILD TURKEY, presumably a released or escaped bird, on the 28th along Lakeview Drive in Duluth. New arrivals in the area during the past week include AMERICAN BITTERN, SORA, CASPIAN TERN, FORSTER'S TERN, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, SOLITARY SANDPIPER, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, PECTORAL SANDPIPER, SWAINSON’S THRUSH, AMERICAN PIPIT, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER, PINE WARBLER, PALM WARBLER, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, OVENBIRD, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, SAVANNAH SPARROW, and LINCOLN’S SPARROW. The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, May 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, e-mail us at [log in to unmask], or visit the MOU web site at moumn.org.