Duluth Birding Itinerary

I've been reading posts on mnbirds, and I've made up an itinerary for Duluth. The most exciting bird in the area right now (for me anyway) is an Ivory Gull seen on the 7th.

Thursday: Start off easy with city/urban birding. Visit Canal Park in Duluth, Duluth Port Terminal, and the Superior Landfill.
Target Birds: THAYER'S GULL, ICELAND GULL, IVORY GULL, GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL, AND SNOWY OWL. Also possibility of going to a private ("call ahead") feeder in east Duluth that has been hosting a BOREAL CHICKADEE and a VARIED THRUSH.

Friday: Go out to the Sax-Zim Bog area, which is going to be mostly birding from the car.
Target Birds: GREAT GRAY OWL, NORTHERN HAWK OWL, AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER, BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER, GRAY JAY, BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE, BOREAL CHICKADEE, SNOW BUNTING, PINE GROSBEAK, COMMON REDPOLL, HOARY REDPOLL, and EVENING GROSBEAK.

Saturday: Go out west of Duluth an hour to Hedbom Forest Road and CR-18, then back through Tamarack. More drive-and-bird.
Target Birds: RED-NECKED GREBE and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. (There just haven't been may reports from here lately, but last year nearly every bird I was looking for was spotted here).

Sunday: Go up the lake to Two Harbors, then up CR-2 towards Snake River.
Target Birds: SPRUCE GROUSE, AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER, BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER, BOREAL CHICKADEE, and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. Also reported historically, but not reported this year are RING-NECKED PHEASANT, RUFFED GROUSE and SHARP-TAILED GROUSE.

Monday: Last minute birding around Duluth again (see Thursday). Be at airport by 10am.

BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS have been seen throughout, so I'm very hopeful that we'll see them at some point during the trip.

Birds reported historically, but not reported in the area this year, yet, are: HARLEQUIN DUCK, AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, LONG-TAILED DUCK, NORTHERN GOSHAWK, GYRFALCON, GLAUCOUS GULL, SHORT-EARED OWL, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, and PINE SISKIN.

If we get snowed in the city (which doesn't look like it's going to happen), we'll check out some local city parks in Duluth and see if we can't stir up extra birds, or even just do non-birding activities.

Also, there is another rare bird alert coming out after we get there on the 17th. I don't think it will change the locations we'll be going to, unless there is a really rare bird that shows up. But it will probably change what target birds we're looking for.

Revenge of a Plover Lover

I haven't mentioned it yet in my blog, but this last year Jim Stevenson of the Galveston Ornithological Society made national headlines by shooting a lame feral cat that was hunting endangered Piping Plovers. The bridge worker, John Newland, saw him gun the cat down and called the police. He was arrested for animal cruelty. At the time of the shooting, it was not illegal to shoot feral animals (the law has since been changed because of this incident). The hitch was, the bridge worker, John Newland, claimed that the cats were his because he fed them, and it is illegal to shoot someone's pet.

So the case went to trial, and the jury was deadlocked, so the judge declared a mistrial. The DA's office decided not to re-try the case, so Stevenson was as good as off the hook. This made world-wide news in the cat fancier and birder circles and a bitter rift between the two was torn even further. A few weeks later, an attempt was made on Stevenson's life and he fled the state of Texas.

(There is a very long, well written article about the whole series of events from the New York Times here: Kill the Cat that Kills the Bird?, if you're interested in more of the details.)

But now the tables have turned. According to the Galveston County News, John Newland is cited and could face a fine of up to $500 for breaking a city ordinance forbidding anyone to own more than 4 cats. He said they were his cats in open court, so he's pretty much estopped to the ownership of them. So here's the lesson of the day... don't feed stray cats unless you want to assume full legal responsibility for them! Thanks to BirdChick for bringing this to my attention.

Read the full story here

Bus Ride to Work

Took a bus to work today and followed a robin call around for 5-10 minutes because it had been so long since I had heard one and didn't realize that's what it was (they're winter birds here) :)

I only saw one new bird species today for the public transportation bigby, a feral Muscovy Duck at Sam Houston Park downtown. I might be able to get more on my way home.

Neighborhood Walking

Went out walking with my visiting mom to look at birds, and had one of the most productive neighborhood days I've ever had :) As soon as I walked out the door I heard the House Sparrows, so it ended up being my first for the big green big year, even though seconds after that a Red-bellied Woodpecker flew right in front of me. :-/

Walking # / Self-Propelled # / Public Transport #

1/1/1 - House Sparrow
2/2/2 - Red-bellied Woodpecker
3/3/3 - White-winged Dove
4/4/4 - Mockingbird
5/5/5 - European Starling
6/6/6 - Great-tailed Grackle
7/7/7 - Rock Dove (Pigeon)
8/8/8 - Blue Jay
9/9/9 - Northern Cardinal
10/10/10 - Mourning Dove
11/11/11 - American Robin
12/12/12 - Downy Woodpecker
13/13/13 - Ruby-crowned Kinglet
14/14/14 - American Goldfinch
15/15/15 - Inca Dove

My Big Green Big Year is off to a good start.