After hearing that Jason Caddy and Tony Mitchell had seen 18+ Red-throated Loons from the Beach House at the Park Point Recreation Area, four observers (Mike Hendrickson, Jan & Larry Kraemer, and Peder Svingen) surveyed the Lake Superior side of Park Point from four vantage points, beginning at the Beach House and ending at the 12th Street public access, between 1:36 PM and 4:50 PM this afternoon (5 May). Viewing conditions were good with mostly overcast skies and light winds. We saw many loons in flight and some were identifiable with binoculars alone, but a spotting scope was necessary to identify those at longer distances. Virtually all of the loons seen in flight were flying towards the Superior Entry and Wisconsin Point, and we carefully avoided double counting any of those seen on the water by tracking their movements during each count period. It should be noted that dozens of Common Loons were also identified and many more hundreds of birds were visible from each location that were too far away to classify even at the genus level. Results of our 3+ hour survey are as follows:
37 at Beach House
66 at Lafayette Square
50 at 22nd Street access
21 at 12th Street access
GRAND TOTAL of 174 Red-throated Loons! The previous high counts for this species in Minnesota were 117 at Duluth 3 May 2009 (Karl Bardon, The Loon 81:175) and 102 at Duluth 27 May 2010 (Peder Svingen, The Loon 82:163). All other high counts for the state are ≤ 39 birds and all are from Duluth.
Terry Wiens spotted a flock of 11 White-winged Scoters near 12th Street that were later seen near the Beach House. We saw several good-sized flocks of Bufflehead on Lake Superior; none of us could recall ever seeing so many Bufflehead during spring migration at Duluth. Several thousand diving ducks (Aythya sp.), hundreds of goldeneyes, and hundreds and hundreds of Red-necked and Horned Grebes can still be seen at Park Point. We speculated that large numbers of diving ducks, loons, and grebes have been forced to remain here since there is little open water on any of the large lakes north of Duluth. Dabbling ducks are not similarly affected, since they can find food along the edges of shallow lakes, sloughs, and flooded agricultural fields.
There was also an impressive fallout of Hermit Thrushes, juncos, and sparrows at Park Point, especially this morning before the fog dissipated. Up to 10 species of sparrows were present with high numbers of American Tree Sparrows and White-throated Sparrows. Mike and I counted 89 Swamp Sparrows between the Rowing Club and the Recreation Area, which represents the 2nd highest northbound count [100 were at Old Cedar Ave Bridge, Hennepin County, 22 April 2012 (Bruce Fall), and 100 were at Duluth, 29 April 1970 (Marj Carr)]. Mike found (refound?) a Le Conte's Sparrow near the SW corner of the ball fields at the Recreation Area, and the Northern Mockingbird found by Dave Benson 29 April was still present between the Rowing Club and Southworth Marsh.
--
Peder H. Svingen
Duluth, MN