-RBA *Minnesota *Duluth/North Shore *April 4, 2013 *MNDU1304.04 -Birds mentioned Gadwall Ring-necked Duck Lesser Scaup Long-tailed Duck Barrow's Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Pied-billed Grebe Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Golden Eagle Iceland Gull Glaucous Gull Great Black-backed Gull Snowy Owl Great Gray Owl Varied Thrush Bohemian Waxwing Lapland Longspur -Transcript Hotline: Minnesota, Duluth/North Shore Date: April 4, 2013 Sponsor: Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU) Reports: (218) 834-2858 Compiler: Jim Lind ([log in to unmask]) This is the Duluth Birding Report for April 4th, 2013 sponsored by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. A female BARROW'S GOLDENEYE was found by Karl Bardon on March 25th at Canal Park in Duluth. The over wintering male BARROW’S GOLDENEYE was also present, but it was paired with a Common Goldeneye. Karl counted a record high ten GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS in the Duluth Harbor on the 31st, along with two THAYER’S GULLS, two ICELAND GULLS, and eight GLAUCOUS GULLS. On the 29th and 31st he saw a ROSS’S GOOSE in the harbor. A male VARIED THRUSH is still being seen sporadically by Alison Clarke in her yard at 226 Ridgewood Road in east Duluth. Birders are welcome to search for this bird. Karl Bardon and others counted 417 BALD EAGLES and 5 GOLDEN EAGLES on the 29th at the West Skyline Hawk Count, as well as nearly 1,600 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS. Rod Burmaster saw a SNOWY OWL in Two Harbors on the 31st by the Holiday gas station at the west end of town. Small numbers of GREAT GRAY OWLS are still being seen along the North Shore, with one found by Peder Svingen on the 28th on the west side of Two Harbors and another found by Uwe Kausch on the 29th on the Wildwood Road west of the Homestead Road in Duluth Township. Bob Myers saw a flock of LONG-TAILED DUCKS on the 29th at the Silver Bay marina. Mike Steffes saw a flock of nine LONG-TAILED DUCKS on the 28th at Agate Bay in Two Harbors. Recent spring arrivals in the past week include GADWALL, BLUE WINGED TEAL, LESSER SCAUP, RING-NECKED DUCK, HOODED MERGANSER, PIED-BILLED GREBE, GREAT BLUE HERON, TURKEY VULTURE, and LAPLAND LONGSPUR. The next scheduled update of this report will be on Thursday, April 11th. 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.