- Duluth RBA 12/23
The biggest birding news in our area continues to be the irruption of
northern owls. Note the remarkable totals found during the Christmas
Bird Counts reported on below. As in the past weeks, Great gray and
hawk owls may be found at many locations around northeastern Minnesota;
among the easier spots to look are in the Sax-Zim area along Cty Rds 52
and 7, and on any of the back roads between Duluth and Two Harbors (for
Great Grays). In Duluth, hawk owls were seen this week on Woodland Ave
near the entrance to Hartley Nature Center, and at W. Tischer Rd and
Jean Duluth Rd. Great Grays were seen above London Rd around 34th Ave
E, on the Piedmont ski trails, at Snowflake Ski area on Rice Lake Rd,
and along Arlington near Lake Superior College.
The Sax-Zim Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 20th, organized by Sparky
Stensaas, tied its record species high with 33, including an astounding
70 GREAT GRAY OWLS and 42 NORTHERN HAWK OWLS, both record counts for
these species. Other Highlights included BOREAL CHICKADEES seen along
Owl Ave in the "bend," two BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES, and a HOARY REDPOLL
(again at a non-feeder location).
The Two Harbors count on the 19th, organized by Jim Lind and Frank
Nicoletti, turned up 40 species, including 56 GREAT GRAY OWLS and 4
NORTHERN HAWK OWLS. The Great Gray count was a North American record
for one day, until the Sax-Zim count took place.
The telephone number of the Duluth Rare Bird Alert is 218-728-5030.
-
An email message on one of the Minnesota birding networks tonight
carried this note:
> When in the Sax Zim area watch for spikes on the roads. (On) the
> McDavitt Road (CR-213)
> (we have) found a few home-made things that readily flatten tires. You
> are remote in that area, so be careful.
- Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004
Owl Hotspots:
Great Greys:
- McDavitt Road (CR-213)
- Highway 52 between Cotton and Highway 7
- Stone Lake Road (CR-319)
Hawk Owls:
- Stone Lake Road (CR-319)
- McDavitt Road (CR-213)
- Highway 7
- Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2004 - Duluth RBA
an adult THAYER'S GULL and an adult
GLAUCOUS GULL at Canal Park;
300 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS seen behind St.
Scholastica (plus smaller groups at several locations); 12 RED
CROSSBILLS near the intersection of Hicken and Grouse north of Duluth;
Repeating from Thursday's report, a tour group from Iowa reported both
BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER and AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER from the
Spruce Rd, which turns north off Hwy 1 northwest of the jct. with Lake
Cty Rd 2. They found BOREAL CHICKADEES along this road too. They also
saw a SPRUCE GROUSE from Cty Rd 2, 2.5 miles north of the Sand River.
The best spot for gulls in our area is the Superior, WI landfill, where
this week there were reports of three THAYER'S GULLS, two ICELAND
GULLS, eight GLAUCOUS GULLS, a second winter LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL,
and a GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. A first winter THAYER'S GULL was seen
again this week in Two Harbors, MN.
- Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004
Going on to a Sax-Zim trip last Thursday, we found a lot more activity on
the edges than within the bog area. A veritable blizzard was going on
during which we found 2 GGO on HWY 7 and 4 Hawk Owls all near the Green
Houses. When the blizzard ended, which in reality was just a flurry, GGO's
disappeared but the Hawk Owls were still randomly found. We even found 2
NHO's by the gas staiion on the east side of HWY 53 in downtown Cotton.
Working the east Duluth area around Normanna and Lakewood areas we found
several more GGO's and yesterday, North of Island Lake on HWY 4 and just
south of the Brimson Road we found another.
- Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004
Dakota County. Dec. 16. 4-5pm. Black Dog, east lake viewed from the power
plant road. Approximately 1,000 gulls present until dark including at least
one adult Glaucous Gull and several Thayer's.
- Duluth RBA
BOREAL OWL hunting during daylight on the
14th just north of the intersection of Maxwell and Elm.
The bird has not been seen since. To reach this location, from Glenwood
St go north on Jean Duluth Rd about 3 miles to W Tischer Rd, then go
east 1.4 miles to Maxwell, then south to Elm. This sighting follows the
development of the first icy crust on the snow.
Bill Maier reported a possible TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE from the corner of
Martha and E 7th St yesterday. Stefan Schlick found 200 BOHEMIAN
WAXWINGS along Cty Rd 229 north of 133 in Sax-Zim. There are also
flocks in Two harbors. COMMON REDPOLLS are now abundant around
northeastern Minnesota. This week there were reports of three HOARY
REDPOLLS, but none were at feeders where they would be likely to be
refound. Four flocks of RED CROSSBILLS were reported from Hwy 46 east
of Kerrick in Pine Cty.
- From http://webpages.charter.net/mmhendrickson/
The largest concentration of Northern Hawk Owls are being found in the Sax Zim
Bog area. Great Gray Owls are being found in the Sax Zim Bog area but the
largest concentration seems to be the back roads bewteen Duluth and Two
Harbors. I recieved a report that Great Gray Owls are being found in good
numbers in Lake County. From the town of Silver Bay (Lake Co), drive along
Forest Road 11 north to Lake Co. Rd. 2. Along this stretch of road several
Great Gray Owls were found hunting along the road. There are also Great Gray
Owls along Scenic Highway 61 going up to Two Harbors. Another good road for
viewing Great Gray Owls is along Lake Co. Rd 2 from the town of Two Harbors.
Drive north along Lake Co. Rd 2 to County Rd. 16. Take a left on Co. Rd. 16
and head west. Along Co. Rd 16 there have been several sightings of Great Gray
Owls along this road. If you head west on Co. Rd 16, you'll come to Forest Rd.
11 that takes you to Hoyt Lakes. This road also had numerous sightings of Great
Gray Owls. The best places to look for Great Gray Owls in Sax Zim Bog, is
along Co. Rd 133 between Highway 53 and Co. Rd 7. There have been several
sightings along Co. Rd 7 from Co. Rd 133 to Stone Lake Rd. (Co. Rd 319).
12/14
-More Great Gray Owls
-Bohemian Waxwings: Large flock of about 150 at he Two Harbors library and a
smaller flock of 100 or so on Lake Co. Rd 2 north of hockey arena.
-Hoary Redpoll with a flock of Common Redpolls that landed on Scenic 61 between
the rest area and Stony Pt.
-White-winged Crossbills at the corner of Strand and North Tischer Rd.
-Boreal Owl (photo on web site)
-Glaucous Gull ( WI landfill )
-Great Black-backed Gull (WI landfill)
-Iceland Gull (adult Kumliens)
-Thayer's Gull ( adult and imm)
- Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004
As previously reported large numbers of Owls are still present in
the Sax/Zim area. With CR 7 being the most productive road for Owls for us.
Other species observed were:
Sharp-tailed Grouse - CR 29, about 2.5 miles N of CR 133 - single bird
observed sitting on a hay bail
Black-billed Magpie - Noon - CR 29N and CR 133
Northern Shrike - 1 observed on CR 319 and another along CR 7, just N of CR
133
Common Redpoll - CR 29, good numbers were observed at 2 feeding stations
about 3 miles N of CR 133.
- Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2004
at 11.45 we saw at hawk owl on woodland ave in Duluth.
just before the left turn into
hartley (nature center). at the center at about 11.15 we got really good looks
at a northern shrike, it hang around for about 10 minutes, so all the
interested staff saw it too.
- Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004
Aitkin County 18 & 5 - five Northern Hawk Owls, three Great Grays,
flock of 23 White-winged Crossbills in Palisade.
Locations for owls - NHOW - 169 1/2 mile south of 18, two on 18 (one mile
mark and near the 18/5 intersection), one on Pietz Road, one on 5 about 1/2
mile from 18. GGOW's - on 18 two miles from 169, Pietz Road, and 1.5 miles
from 18 on 5.
Townsend's Solitaire (only once have found two) still present on the Ann Lake
Campground Road - but much farther in.
- Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004
Saturday, I saw 19Great Gray Owls,
http://www.greenbackedheron.com/photo.cfm?setid=1231, and 2 Northern
Hawk Owls on my way from Duluth to Silver Bay via Sax-Zim. I'll be
sending the GPS coordinates to the owl survey team but the most
productive areas for me were CR8 between Hwy 53 and Floodwood, CR7
between Kelsey and Fobes and CR16/15(Forest Rd 11) between Forbes and
East Beaver Bay.
- Date: Sat 11th Dec 2004
Great Gray Owls:
#1) on Highway 169 about 6 miles north of Aitkin county road 68
#2) on Aitkin county road 7 about 1 mile west of Highway 169
#3) on Aitkin county road 19 about 1.7 miles east of the Cass/Aitkin county
line
#4) on Cass county road 58 about 5.2 miles west of the Cass/Aitkin county
line
#5) on Cass county 58 about .2 miles east of the village of Mae (really,
it's in the Delorme!)
Northern Hawk Owls:
#1 & #2) both at the intersection of Aitkin county road 18 & Highway 169
#3) at the intersection of Aitkin county roads 1 & 21
Other birds of note:
All in Aitkin county: A couple of flocks of Bohemian Waxwings, three - four
flocks of Pine Grosbeaks, one flock of Common Redpolls, a single Northern
shrike and several Rough-legged Hawks scattered throughout.
- Date: Sat 11th Dec 2004
The northern hawk owls were on:
7 hawk owls along county road 7 total. 2 hawk owls were between Sax
road and Arkola road on 7. 1 hawk owl along 7 head south from Kelsey
road to 133. 3 hawk owls north from Sax road before the Stony Lake road
on 7. 3 hawk owls along the stony lake road all on the power lines two
at the same time one on each side of the road and the last on a power
pole right at the corner where the lake comes into view. 1 hawk owl
down 557 north of the Stony Lake road. 2 hawk owls were along Arkola
road east of Owl Ave. 1 hawk owl on 29 heading north past the dead end
road 157 before the road turns east. 1 hawk owl down a couple miles on
Kelsey road. 1 hawk owl on 133 about a quarter mile down. 1 hawk owl
on Arkola road west of Owl Ave. a mile or two. 1 hawk owl on 83 and 1
other hawk owl down Admiral Road heading south. 2 other hawk owls were
along McDavitts road one on each end.
The 18 great gray owls in Sax Zim were:
3 down McDavitts road. 1 great gray at the dead end of 157 of 29. 1
great gray owl along Kelsey road before the intersection of 204. 2
great gray owls both in view at the same time on 133. 1 great gray owl
on a fence post along Aspen road south from Blue Spruce. 1 great gray
owl on Arkola road west of Owl Ave. 1 great gray along 83 heading north
right after turning off of Arkola. 1 great gray owl east on 83 and
another after turning back north. Another great gray owl on 83 west of
McDavitts road. 3 great gray owls all within sight of each other on
three power poles right in a row along 7 north of Sax road. 2 great
gray owls near the end of the Stony Lake road both in sight of each
other.
- Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004
A Black-backed Woodpecker was seen in NE Pine County.
The habitat wasn?t right so it?s assumed the bird was
a migrant if only a short-distance one. It definitely
was not in this area during the CBS in Pine County.
The bird was on Cty 44 1/2 mile W of the Intersection
of 45, 171,44. Hope its there for the CBC.
-
Dec 9th MN RBA
Yesterday, there were three NORTHERN HAWK OWLS in the town of Cotton,
on the west side of Hwy 53. We found ten Great Grays and 4 more Hawk
Owls in one hour of birding along Cty Rd 7 between 52 and 319.
Carol Schumacher reported
a BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER today in Northeastern Pine County. The bird
was on Cty 44 1/2 mile W of the Intersection of 45, 171, 44.
- Date: Dec 8th 2004
A very overcast, misty and slippery afternoon at Sax-Zim found five Northern
Hawk Owls and three Great Gray Owls.
A Great Gray was found on Co. 133, 5.5 miles west of U.S. 53. Two Great
Grays were found on Co. 213 (McDavitt Rd.). One was 3.5 miles and one 3.9 miles
north of Co. 28.
Two Northern Hawk Owls were found on Co. 7, one 2.5 miles north of Co. 52;
the other was found .5 miles north of Co. 28.
Three NHOW's were found on McDavitt Rd. (Co. 213). One .25 miles north of
Co. 28. One 2.9 miles north of Co. 28. The last was found 3.5 miles north of
Co. 28, right across the road from one of the Great Grays mentioned above.
South Admiral Rd. (Co. 788) revealed nothing this afternoon except two
Northern Shrikes.
- Date: Dec 8th 2004
Thayer's, Iceland and Glaucous Gull in Grand Marais Harbor
- Date: Dec 7th 2004
On Tuesday AM I headed north of Duluth on Hwy 53 and was in the Cotton area
as it was getting light. Heading west on Hwy 52, I had 2 Great Grays, 2 Boreal
Chickadees and a Barred Owl. Turning north on Hwy 7, there were 5 Northern
Hawk Owls in 5 miles, along w/ additional Great Grays. Several Rough Legged
Hawks were noted, and about 25 Pine Grosbeaks were at a feeder,
along w/ flocks of Common Redpolls.
I spent an hour walking McDavitt Rd. (runs n. from Sax Rd) in the dead spruce
area looking for Black Backed Woodpeckers but found only Downy, Hairy and
Pileated. Flushed a grouse of ?? species.
A MN DNR employee stopped and mentioned the Black Billed Magpies; best seen,
according to him, near the jct. of Hwys 52 and 7. He was suprised I hadn't
seen a Gray Jay.
Did get a N. Shrike. Missed White Winged Crossbills.
- Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004
Today I was guiding some folks from Sierra Vista, Arizona. We found a group of
11 Spruce Grouse at the 2 mile mark north of the Sand River on Lake Co. Rd 2. We
also found a single female Spruce Grouse .01 miles north of the Sand River On
Lake Co. Rd 2. I will post the rest of my 2 day trip on my web site along with
some photos of the grouse and owls. I thought I get the word out this hard to
find grouse. We found the Spruce Grouse at 7:45 and watched them till 8:00am.
While watching them a truck noticed the grouse and sped to see if he could hit
one and drove at them in front of us! The grouse scattered but none were hit by
cars.
- Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004
This morning around 10:30 their was a gorgeous great grey owl
perched along the gunflint trail almost directly across from Pincushion
but down a hair further on a falling tree three or four feet of the
ground. On the way home around noon we saw probably the same bird only
a little way's before the intersection of either 54 or 64 but I can't
remember which number it is. Also this morning closer to 8:00 my sister
spied a spectacularly gorgeous adult male black-backed woodpecker on a
small two track road off the bally creek road but I forgot the mileage
south of the devils track intersection, a wild guess would be 5 miles or
so south of there. The bird anyhow was on a broken of dead balsam fir
ten feet from the truck or so offering great views of it and the
brightest golden cap I have ever seen on a male. Good birding
- Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004
Earlier today I found one adult Ross's Goose in a mixed flock of about 400
Canada and Cackling Geese on Sleepy Eye lake. I was able to get excellent looks
at it as it rested on the ice only 100 feet from the road. ID made on small
size, round head and stubby bill with no grinning patch. Also seen were
Mallard, Lesser Scaup and Common Merganser.
-
These were birds seen on Dec 3 or 4.
All the owls were seen between 2:15pm and 4:50pm.
Northern Hawk Owl:
12/3, CR52, 0.2 mi E of Cotton
12/3, S edge of Melrude, ~40 yds down RR tracks, on wire on right
12/3, Stone Lake Rd, 1.0 mi E of CR7
12/3, CR7, 1.4 mi AND 3.3 mi S of Stone Lake Rd
12/4, McDavitt Rd, 2.8 mi S of Zim Rd
12/4, McDavitt Rd, 0.3 mi N of Sax Rd
12/4, Sax Rd, 0.3 mi E of McDavitt, flew out and hovered twice
12/4, CR7, 6.0 mi AND 7.3 mi S of Sax Rd
Great Gray Owl:
12/3, CR52, 0.7 mi E of Cotton
12/3, CR59/Melrude Rd, 0.1 mi N of CR52
12/3, CR59, 0.3 mi N of CR52, by private road, "No Hunting" sign, :)
12/3, CR59, 2.9 mi N of CR52, end of driveway, #1315
12/3, in Melrude, CR59 at Cemetery Rd
12/3, CR59, 1.0 mi past Young Lake Rd (or 0.5 mi before US53)
12/4, McDavitt Rd, 3.0 mi S of Zim Rd, 100yd back, salmon-pink sky!
Black-billed Magpies and a Rough-legged Hawk on Kelsey-Whiteface Rd
Rough-legged Hawk, dark phase, at the end of the Blue Spruce Rd
Pine Grosbeaks, Pine St (Blue Spruce loop) and Hwy 1 at Stony River FR
Northern Shrike along Lake County 2 by the Langley River
Gray Jays on Owl Ave about 3 mi S of Arkola
Bald Eagles, several flocks of Common Redpolls, and many Common Ravens
- Dec 3rd 2004 - Sandra Keller trip report (edited)
Rt. 7 is a major N-S road through the bog and proved very birdy to boot. Stone Lake Rd. had a house with
feeders that proved productive with the Boreal Chickadees, Pine Grosbeaks, Redpolls, etc.
One of our Black-backed Woodpeckers for the trip was a flyby right over us along Rt. 7.
The 4 Sharp-tailed Grouse flew into trees, then the road side along Rt. 7 just south of Rt. 28. Our first
Gray Jay was along Rt. 788.
Time to try a different area - Melrude - just to the east of Rt. 53 and Sax-Zim Bog. Not on the
internet map I printed out. Printing out more detailed maps from a mapping program is advised.
Janet and Martha both did that. Great Grays were reported from there. Comstock Lake Rd. and
Melrude Rd. were the best with 6 Great Gray Owls between them. Two more for 8 total for the day
- all between 2:15 and 3:45PM.
Ruffed Grouse. The Grouse were spotted along Owl Ave. - Rt. 202 - by eagle-eyed Janet. Just feeding off of buds.
- Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004
St. Louis County
Great Gray Owl - CR 16 - mileage notes are from CR 16 & CR 110 interaction
1. 10:30am - 10:35am - 3.4 miles East
2. 10:45am - 11:00am - 2. miles East
3. 11:05am - 3.3 miles West
4. 11:11am - 5. 5 miles West
Northern Hawk Owl - One bird observed 4.4 miles West of the intersection of
CR 16 and CR 110 on the north side of the road at 11:08am