This is the Northwest Minnesota Birding Report for Thursday, November 13, 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.
Many things have changed this week. We are getting the first really cold spell now , and open water is disappearing quickly. Also the last cold front came in with a whoosh, and the cold wind persuaded many birds to keep moving. As a result, most of the waterfowl have gone, except those on large deep lakes that still have some open water. Yesterday, on a trip to Fargo we saw hundreds of CANADA GEESE in the fields south of Crookston, and today on our return, there were none. SNOWY OWLS are being reported, and today I looked for two of them reported below but found neither. They are definitely still on the move.
A total of 4 SNOWY OWLS were reported in the northwest this week. Yesterday, November 12, an adult male was spotted by Shelley Steva 5 miles east of Brooks along MN 92 in Red Lake County. Kathy Jones reported one seen about 7 miles southwest of Thief River Falls in Pennington County around November 7. Neither of those two could be found today. Beau Shroyer saw one in front of the high school in Bemidji, Beltrami County, on the south side of US 2 bypass on November 11. Kathy Jones also observed a SNOWY OWL a few miles east of Roseau, Roseau County, on November 8.
Benjamin Eckhoff reported species are changing in Lake Carlos State Park, Douglas County, this week, as most of the waterfowl have gone from the smaller bodies of water, and numbers are down even on the larger lakes. That said a large influx of migrating diving ducks was seen this week ahead of the front, including HOODED MERGANSERS, BUFFLEHEAD, REDHEADS, CANVASBACKS, RUDDY DUCKS , and scaup. At the feeders were BROWN CREEPER and PURPLE FINCH. RED-TAILED HAWKS, and SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS are still migrating through.
Marshall Howe in Dorset in Hubbard County saw a TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE visit briefly on November 10. Other species seen this week in the county included ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, 200 HOODED MERGANSERS on Lake Emma, SNOW BUNTINGS, and DARK-EYED JUNCOS. 5 TUNDRA SWANS were seen on Lake Alice bog.
From Polk County, Sandy Aubol reported a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK and one WHITE-THROATED SPARROW in her yard in East Grand Forks on November 8; on November 10 a RUSTY BLACKBIRD arrived and was joined by two others on November 11. Kim Greendahl reported BALD EAGLE and WILD TURKEY in Polk County on November 11.
Dave Harbott observed ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS and BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES near Hazel in Pennington County on November 8, and a female NORTHERN CARDINAL at his father’s place in St Hilaire. Also there was a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. Today, I saw over 50 WILD TURKEYS southwest of Thief River Falls near CR 7.
Thanks to Beau Shroyer, Benjamin Eckhoff, Dave Harbott, Kathy Jones, Kim Greendahl, Marshall Howe, Sandy Aubol, and Shelley Steva 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, November 20, 2014.