-RBA *Minnesota *Detroit Lakes *June 28, 2012 *MNDL1206.28 -Birds mentioned Spruce Grouse Sharp-tailed Grouse Western Grebe Least Bittern American Woodcock Great Gray Owl Long-eared Owl Olive-sided Flycatcher Boreal Chickadee Lark Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Henslow's Sparrow Le Conte's Sparrow Indigo Bunting Dickcissel -Transcript Hotline: Minnesota, Detroit Lakes Date: June 28, 2012 Sponsor: Lakes Area Birding Club, Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce Reports: 1-800-542-3992 (weekdays during business hours) Compiler: Jeanie Joppru ([log in to unmask]) This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Thursday, June 28, 2012 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. Summer weather has finally arrived. We are hoping it sticks around for awhile. Birds are very busy raising the next generation right now, and feeders are busy with the activity of young birds learning the ropes. Jesse Ellis reported LE CONTE'S SPARROWS north of Lake Irene in Douglas County on June 28. He also found DICKCISSELS in the county. In Norman County, Randy Frederickson discovered several HENSLOW'S SPARROWS this week. One of them was at the following location: seven miles east of Borup on CR 39, then north 2 miles to the intersection of 330th St and 140th Ave, and east 0.3 miles. The bird was on the north side of the road. From East Grand Forks , Sandy Aubol reported LE CONTE'S SPARROW, LARK SPARROW, INDIGO BUNTING, and DICKCISSELS in the East Grand Forks greenway on June 24. In Red Lake County on June 25, Ron Erpelding found a WESTERN GREBE on the Red Lake Falls wastewater treatment ponds, and two DICKCISSELS on the south side of CR 1 just east of CR 23. Ashley Hitt at Agassiz NWR in Marshall County heard a LEAST BITTERN on the refuge on June 27. Larry Wilebski in Kittson County reported LEAST BITTERN, AMERICAN WOODCOCKS, LONG-EARED OWL with an owlet, and over twenty WHIP-POOR-WILLS on June 23. Ron Erpelding was in the county on June 25 and 26 where he found several SHARP-TAILED GROUSE with broods, several LEAST BITTERNS, two of which were along the Tombstone Highway( CR 51) east of US 59. A WHIP-POOR-WILLS was heard on the south side of the Tombstone Highway 3 miles east of US 59. Bill Blackburn, reporting from Lake of the Woods County on June 26, observed a GREAT GRAY OWL and BOREAL CHICKADEES on the Pitt Grade, an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER on the Hogsback trail, and SPRUCE GROUSE in the Beltrami Island State Forest. On CR 3, he found a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. Thanks to Ashley Hitt, Bill Blackburn, Jesse Ellis, Larry Wilebski, Randy Frederickson, Ron Erpelding, and Sandy Aubol for their reports. Please report bird sightings to Jeanie Joppru by email, no later than Thursday each week, at [log in to unmask] 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, July 5, 2012 Jeanie Joppru Pennington County, MN