Explore Minnesota Birding Report Update March 19, 2012
The month of March 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 ?SOAR with the Eagles? events offered by the National Eagle Center in Wabasha at the nearby St. Felix Auditorium on Saturday and Sunday, March 24 & 25. The featured program this weekend will be Save Our American Raptors (SOAR). Come meet flying hawks and owls, and the cutest Black Vulture, Cayce, all while learning about their important place in the natural world.
The following is a list of recent, significant sightings:
Lake Byllesby in Dakota County has been an excellent place to see northbound migrants this month. In addition to the hundreds of ducks, geese, and swans, eight Pectoral Sandpipers and two Lesser Yellowlegs were exploring the mudflats at the lake's western shore on March 15. Just west of there, Bob Dunlap found a single Greater Yellowlegs along the Cannon River on the 9th.
Brian Smith reported Baird's Sandpipers at the Sleepy Eye wastewater treatment plant in Brown County on the 14th.
About a week and a half ahead of schedule, a Loggerhead Shrike was at the industrial park complex north of Randolph in Dakota County on the 11th.
On March 13, a Winter Wren was heard singing at the Westwood Hill Nature Center in St. Louis Park, Hennepin County. Other spring migrants arriving over the last week include Tundra Swan, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Wilson's Snipe, American White Pelican, Northern Flicker, Song Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Harris's Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, Western Meadowlark, and Brewer's Blackbird.
In the Duluth/North Shore vicinity, record-breaking warm temperatures have brought many new arrivals more typical of late March and early April. These early migrants include Trumpeter Swans, Turkey Vultures, Northern Harriers, American Kestrels, Killdeer, American Woodcock, Northern Saw-Whet Owl, Hermit Thrush, Fox Sparrows, Common Grackles, and Red-Winged Blackbirds. Golden Eagles are being seen daily at the West Skyline Hawk Count, with 28 counted on the 15th. On the same day, there were 451 Bald Eagles. Iceland Gulls, Great Black-Backed Gulls, Glaucous Gulls, and Thayer's Gulls were seen at Canal Park in Duluth. Bohemian Waxwings continue to be seen in Duluth Township along the West Knife River Road (CR 231), 0.7 mile west of the Homestead Road (CR 42). A flock of Bohemian Waxwings were still present on March 15 in Ely by the wastewater treatment plant.
And in the Northwest region of the state, near the city of Detroit Lakes, there have been many reports of American Kestrel, Northern Harrier, several species of ducks, Killdeer, American Robin, Red-Winged Blackbird, and Common Grackle. At Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge late last week there were Trumpeter Swans, Merlin, and Ring-Billed Gull at the South Pool. A Western Meadowlark was seen south of the refuge, and there were Killdeer, Harris's Sparrow, and Dark-Eyed Junco at headquarters. And an American Kestrel was found near Viking on March 12.
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.
