-RBA *Minnesota *Minnesota Statewide *October 14, 2011 *MNST1110.14 -Birds mentioned Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Red-throated Loon Snowy Egret Common Gallinule Parasitic Jaeger Black-backed Woodpecker Northern Shrike Common Redpoll -Transcript Hotline: Minnesota Statewide Date: October 14, 2011 Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU) http://moumn.org Reports: (763) 780-8890 Compiler: Anthony Hertzel ([log in to unmask]) This is the Minnesota Birding Report for October 13th, 2011. In Dakota County, a large falcon was seen on October 9th flying south across the fields along Fahey Avenue between state highway 55 and Pine Bend Trail. The observer suggests the possibility that this bird was a Gyrfalcon. On Lake Superior in Duluth, birders are reporting RED-THROATED LOON, SURF SCOTER, WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, and PARASITIC JAEGER from various locations along Park Point. On the 9th, Bob Williams found a very late SNOWY EGRET at the Waterville Fish Hatchery ponds on Le Sueur County Road 14 west of Waterville. And on the 10th, Bob Russell found a late COMMON GALLINULE at Swan Lake, Nicollet County, in the canal behind the conservation club. This is west of the town of Nicollet and about a third of a mile north of U.S. Highway 14. Also on the 9th, three BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS were seen by Sparky Stensaas in the Sax-Zim Bog of St. Louis County. They were along McDavitt Road about three miles north of Sax Road. Finally, on the 13th, Elizabeth Copper spotted a NORTHERN SHRIKE in Melrude, St. Louis County, and another was seen at Hawk Ridge on the 10th. The first COMMON REDPOLL of the season flew past the ridge on the 12th. The next scheduled update of this tape is October 20th, 2011.