Explore Minnesota Birding Report Update January 7, 2013
Canada geese, trumpeter swans and mallards can be seen this time of year at open water sites and near power plants along rivers. Check out the various Minnesota Birding Trails and search for the many open water sites along the Great River Birding Trail. Birders will also enjoy spectacular views of bald eagles at certain bald eagle roosting sites along Highway U.S. 61 from Red Wing to Winona that overlook the Mississippi River.
The following information has been provided courtesy of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union and their affiliates. This report is brought to you by ExploreMinnesota.com.
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The following is a list of recent, significant sightings:
On December 30th, Karl Bardon found a Slaty-Backed Gull at the end of Park Point in Duluth. Lately it has also been seen in the afternoons on one of the break walls at Canal Park. The Barrow's Goldeneye that Karl found the end of December 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 January 1st. To view this bird, begin in the town of Kasota and travel 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.
There was an unusual sighting of a Double-Crested Cormorant reported on January 3rd at the eastern outflow to Black Dog Lake in Dakota County. And on January 4th, the immature Black-Crowned Night-Heron was still being seen along Shive Road in Winona, Winona County.
Information in this statewide birding report is provided by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU), Minnesota's oldest and largest bird club. To submit a bird sighting, email the MOU birding report compiler at rba@moumn.org.
