Minnesota Birding Report

This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Thursday, July 10, 2014 sponsored by the Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce. You may also hear this report by calling (218)847-5743 or 1-800-433-1888.

Summer seems to have arrived in the northwest after a bumpy ride. With the heat and the advancing calendar, most of the sightings are of baby birds this week, and the heat seems to have kept some folks inside this week.

In Polk County, Sandy Aubol reported a COMMON NIGHTHAWK over the city of East Grand Forks on June 25. That would suggest that there might be at least one pair nesting in the vicinity. She also found a family of WESTERN GREBES with young at the Agassiz Valley Impoundments on the Polk County side. On July 3, Vicki Stolz in Fisher reported BALTIMORE ORIOLES and ORCHARD ORIOLES back at the feeders by July 3. Sandy Aubol had a PINE SISKIN at the feeder in East Grand Forks on July 4, the first time in a long while that she has seen one. A NELSON’S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW was heard singing on the east side of 260th Ave a half mile north of CR 23 on July 5.

Sandy Aubol found two WESTERN GREBES at the Agassiz Valley Impoundment on the Marshall County side on June 25. Cliff Steinhauer reported a RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD nesting under the eaves of his house near the western side of Agassiz NWR on July 8.

Here in Pennington County, the ORCHARD ORIOLE that has been visiting our feeder east of Thief River Falls returned for a day after an absence of about a week but has not been back since. A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER has been coming to the feeder almost every day, and seems to have succeeded in chasing away the RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER that was coming regularly also. The latter has not been seen for about a week now.

I made a trip to the Beltrami Island State Forest in Lake of the Woods county on July 4, where I found the flycatchers were very active. I found EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE, LEAST FLYCATCHERS, and GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHERS very common there. Other species seen there included HERMIT THRUSH, many CEDAR WAXWINGS, and WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS. Warblers heard singing included OVENBIRD, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, MOURNING WARBLER, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, YELLOW WARBLER, CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER, PINE WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, and BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER.

Thanks to Cliff Steinhauer, Sandy Aubol, and Vicki Stolz for their reports.

Please report bird sightings to Jeanie Joppru by email, no later than Thursday each week, at ajjoppru@mncable.net OR call the Detroit Lakes Chamber’s toll free number: 1-800-542-3992. Detroit Lakes area birders please call 847-9202. Please include the county where the sighting took place. The next scheduled update of this report is Thursday, July 17, 2014.