Explore Minnesota Birding Report Update February 13, 2012
A trip outdoors in February offers a chance to see many owls not normally seen when trees are filled with leaves. Look for snowy, boreal, great gray and northern hawk-owls. And don't miss the very popular Sax-Zim Winter Bird Festival held Friday through Sunday, February 17-19 in the Sax-Zim Bog. Enjoy catered home style cooking dinner events Friday and Saturday nights, along with field trips and speaker presentations. There will also be a Friday night "Great Gray Owls at Dusk Search." Birders may also want to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, sponsored by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society with support from Wild Birds Unlimited, which takes place in your own backyard, Friday through Monday, February 17-20.
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:
In Cook County, a male Barrow's Goldeneye was reported by Chris Wood on February 6th at Paradise Beach located 14 miles northeast of Grand Marais.
On the 7th, Gary Otnes found a Prairie Falcon near the Orwell Reservoir southwest of Fergus Falls in Otter Tail County.
The Northern Hawk Owl near Gooseberry Falls State Park in Lake County was still there on February 8th. It was found most recently along State Highway 61 at the Gooseberry River.
On the 5th, Karl Bardon reported a record-high 34 Glaucous Gulls in Duluth at the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District Plant near 27th Avenue West.
An American Three-Toed Woodpecker was discovered by Herb Dingman on February 4th in northeastern Crow Wing County near the intersection of County Road 1 and Low's Lake Road.
And last, several people have called to report overwintering Belted Kingfishers at ponds and open water sites in southeastern parts of the state.
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.
