-RBA *Minnesota *Minnesota Statewide *December 27, 2012 *MNST1212.27 -Birds mentioned Barrow's Goldeneye Black-crowned Night-Heron Golden Eagle Snowy Owl Townsend's Solitaire Varied Thrush Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow -Transcript Hotline: Minnesota Statewide Date: December 27, 2012 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 Thursday December 27th, 2012. On December 25th, Karl Bardon found a BARROW'S GOLDENEYE at the Superior Entry of Park Point in Duluth. On the 22nd, a GOLDEN EAGLE was reported from the Coon Rapids dam on the Hennepin / Anoka county line. On the 21st, Warren Nelson found a SNOWY OWL along US Highway 169, three and three-quarter miles north of Aitkin in Aitkin County. Another is being seen Marshall County, about eight miles west of the Audubon Center along county road 64. And a Snowy Owl was in downtown Minneapolis on the 17th, across Marquette Street from the IDS tower. In Sherburne County, Al Schirmacher reported a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE at the Ann Lake campground parking lot on December 24th. In east Duluth, a VARIED THRUSH is still in the Lakeside neighborhood where it was first discovered on the 15th. It's being seen just west of the intersection of 47th Avenue and Oakley Street. A few late, lingering birds have been reported in the past two weeks. An immature BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON was along Shive Road in Winona on the 20th. On the 24th, a GRAY CATBIRD was in Steve Bachman's yard in Shoreview, Ramsey County. Another was just east of Willmar in Kandiyohi on the 26th. On the 21st, Joel Claus found a BROWN THRASHER at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska. It was in the gardens behind the visitor center. A FIELD SPARROW was seen by Dan Versaw on December 22nd at the Riverwood Park in Dakota County. And a CHIPPING SPARROW was reported on the 19th by Kurt Schulzetenberg near 120 West Plato Boulevard in St. Paul. The next scheduled update of this tape is Thursday January 3rd, 2013.