-RBA *Minnesota *Minnesota Statewide *January 4, 2013 *MNST1301.04 -Birds mentioned Barrow's Goldeneye Double-crested Cormorant Black-crowned Night-Heron Slaty-backed Gull Snowy Owl Carolina Wren Townsend's Solitaire Varied Thrush -Transcript Hotline: Minnesota Statewide Date: January 4, 2013 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 January 3rd, 2013. On December 30th, Karl Bardon found a SLATY-BACKED GULL at the end of Park Point in Duluth. Lately it's also been seen in the afternoons on one of the break walls at Canal Park. And the BARROW'S GOLDENEYE that Karl found last week is still being seen at the Superior Entry of Park Point. Deb and Bill Frank reported a SNOWY OWL on December 29th along Lac qui Parle County Road 12, about two miles west of U.S. Highway 75. On January 2nd, Ken Vail reported that two were in Dodge County, west of 110th Avenue along 700th Street. On January 2nd, Heidi Hughes found a Snowy Owl along U.S. Highway 75 just north of Kennedy in Kittson County. A CAROLINA WREN has been seen daily since December 26th at Roger and Tammy Field's feeder north of Hutchinson in McLeod County. A TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE was at the Kasota Prairie in Le Sueur County on the 1st. From the town of Kasota go south for about a mile to Township Road 140. Turn right, drive for another mile, and look for the bird in the junipers on both sides of the road. In east Duluth, a VARIED THRUSH is still in the Lakeside neighborhood where it was first discovered on December 15th. It's being seen just west of the intersection of 47th Avenue and Oakley Street. Another has been in Bill Henning's yard near Hawley in Clay County since mid December. And a Varied Thrush is frequenting a feeder at 9707 – 35th Street SW in southwestern Olmsted County. This is a mile south and a mile west of Salem Corners. Unusual was the DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT reported on January 3rd at the eastern outflow to Black Dog Lake in Dakota County. And on January 4th, that immature BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON was still being seen along Shive Road in Winona, Winona County. The next scheduled update of this tape is Thursday January 10th, 2013.