North Dakota Birding Hotline Reports
January 2009
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society. This report was prepared on Tuesday, January 27, 2009.
Our severe winter has made things difficult for birders, as well as the birds themselves.
Ron Martin says the Garrison Dam Christmas Bird Count was finally held on January 5, but poor access due to heavy snow helped limit the counters to 45 species, which was the lowest since 1995. Among the highlights were a LONG-TAILED DUCK, GREAT BLUE HERON, three EASTERN SCREECH OWLS, a HOARY REDPOLL, 443 COMMON REDPOLLS, and count highs for RING-NECKED PHEASANTS with 2,448, BALD EAGLES with 41, and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS with 11. On January 25, Ron had to deal with many blocked roads along his 80-mile winter raptor survey conducted mostly along the Souris River Valley in McHenry County from Velva to J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge. Ron found only three adult BALD EAGLES and just two NORTHERN GOSHAWKS, but set a count high for GOLDEN EAGLES with four. He also saw 45 AMERICAN CROWS in one large flock and 18 COMMON RAVENS. For more information on those counts, contact Ron at jrmartin@srt.com. If you're renewing your North Dakota Birding Society membership, his address is Ron Martin, 16900 125th Street SE, Sawyer, North Dakota 58781.
Larry Igl documented a new yard bird in northeast Jamestown. A first-winter NORTHERN SHRIKE spent some time pursuing COMMON REDPOLLS on January 25. You can reach Larry at 701-253-5511.
Bernice Houser was glad to see a EUROPEAN STARLING in her yard near New Town on January 24. She says, before its arrival, the bird population had consisted solely of COMMON REDPOLLS, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, and BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES. Bernice adds that the number of SHARP-TAILED GROUSE and RING-NECKED PHEASANTS in her yard is down considerably. Contact her at sanishnd@hotmail.com.
From Fargo, Keith Corliss discovered four AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS along a paved bike path near the Red River on January 20. He's at koolhand@juno.com.
Betsy Batstone-Cunnningham saw a PILEATED WOODPECKER fly over the road and land on a tree at Lincoln Golf Course in Grand Forks on January 24. Her feeders have been attracting lots of PINE SISKINS and HOUSE FINCHES, plus a few AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES and a couple of redpolls, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, nuthatches, DOWNY WOODPECKERS, HAIRY WOODPECKERS, and a NORTHERN FLICKER. Contact Betsy at batsham@gra.midco.net.
Kay Buri recorded an adult BALD EAGLE south of Fessenden on January 23. She notes there is lots of food available in the area. Contact her at kayaktheprairie@srt.com.
That concludes this week's report from the North Dakota Birding Society.
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society. This report was prepared on Tuesday, January 20, 2009.
Sheer numbers top our report this week.
Keith Corliss estimated "many thousands" of SNOW BUNTINGS and smaller numbers of LAPLAND LONGSPURS at stored corn piles on the ground west of Horace on January 17. He has the exact location. Contact Keith at koolhand@juno.com.
Also from Horace, Linda Gregg reports what she calls an invasion of COMMON REDPOLLS and HOARY REDPOLLS at her feeders. She's been going through 20 pounds of thistle plus some finch food every five days or so. On January 16, Linda saw a SNOWY OWL at the railroad bridge near Target in Moorhead. You can reach her at lgregg@far.midco.net.
At mid-month, Rick Gjervold's feeders in north Fargo attracted a yellow-shafted NORTHERN FLICKER and several COMMON REDPOLLS and HOARY REDPOLLS. Other visitors included an AMERICAN ROBIN, pair of PURPLE FINCHES, and a male NORTHERN CARDINAL. For more information, Rick is at g4jervold@aol.com.
The COOPER'S HAWK that Rick Holbrook first saw over his Fargo yard on January 6 and 7 was back for another look on January 17. Rick says it's an adult male. He also reports the most-ever COMMON REDPOLLS as well as his first-ever male HOARY REDPOLL for his yard. Details at fholbrook@cableone.net.
Howard Lien saw a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK flying near Balfour on January 16. For more information, he's at hlpromo@srt.com.
Ellin Lindee recorded a SNOWY OWL about six miles east of the Parshall intersection on Highway 23 on January 16. She first saw the owl on an old barn, and then watched it fly away. Contact Ellin at daveandellin@srt.com.
From Medora, Lillian Crook had 70-90 redpolls at her feeder during the week ending January 18. She reports that's the first time this winter for the species. She also notes BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES have been seen at the Elkhorn Ranch. Contact her at lilliancrook@hotmail.com.
That concludes this week's report from the North Dakota Birding Society.
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society. This report was prepared on Tuesday, January 13, 2009.
This week...a brief stopover by a rare wintertime visitor.
Janelle Masters was surprised to see a gray-crowned ROSY FINCH at her feeder north of Mandan on January 11. She says the bird didn't stay long and did not re-appear that day. For more information, contact Janelle at janelle.masters@bsc.nodak.edu.
The Bismarck-Mandan Christmas Bird Count on January 3 turned up only 44 species, way down from last year, according to Clark Talkington. Volunteers did record new high counts for RING-NECKED PHEASANT with 1,333, EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE with 54, and EASTERN SCREECH OWL with nine. In addition, they tied a record high with two MERLINS. Counters also found lone AMERICAN TREE SPARROW and HOARY REDPOLL. For details, contact Clark at ctalkington@bis.midco.net.
Larry Igl has a second-hand report of a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL near Millarton last month. Homeowner Arnie Kruse saw the owl in his back yard on December 15. You can reach Larry at 701-253-5511.
A male RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER has been seen in Bowdon. Larry Jones reports the bird had been there a week or so as of January 8. He's at 701-962-3650.
Dean Riemer saw two SNOWY OWLS on January 6. One was near the West Fargo fairgrounds, and the other was south and west of the Mapleton exit off I-94. For details, driemer@kwh.com.
Rick Holbrook's feeders in Fargo were scouted by an adult COOPER'S HAWK on January 6 and 7. He reports a large influx of COMMON REDPOLLS--about 30--on January 12. Rick says they were accompanied by a few PINE SISKINS and very few HOUSE SPARROWS. You can reach him at fholbrook@cableone.net.
Becky Oberlander's feeders in north Fargo attracted a total of 12 COMMON REDPOLLS, about 12 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES and from one to three HOARY REDPOLLS during the first full week of January. She's at raoberlander@hotmail.com.
From Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Dick Kappedal reports some first-of-the-year birds. He saw flocks of SNOW BUNTINGS along I-29 between home and Grand Forks on January 1. Dick was surprised to see very large flocks of RING-NECKED PHEASANTS between Brookings and Watertown, South Dakota. Contact him at roughrider@sio.midco.net.
Bernice Houser saw two EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES in New Town on December 29. On January 5, a stop at Garrison Dam revealed four adult and two or three immature BALD EAGLES, plus lots of CANADA GEESE, a few MALLARDS and some COMMON MERGANSERS at the tailrace. For more information, contact Bernice at sanishnd@hotmail.com.
That concludes this week's report from the North Dakota Birding Society.
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society. This report was prepared on Tuesday, January 6, 2009.
This week: additional sightings of that rare gull in northeastern North Dakota, more Christmas Bird Count results, and some other good sightings.
Dean DiTommaso of Grafton saw the first-year GLAUCOUS GULL heading south along I-29 near the Grafton exit on December 30. It was the latest of several sightings of the gull over the past couple weeks in the Grand Forks and Manvel areas. You can reach Dean at djditom@yahoo.com.
The Minot Christmas Bird Count on December 28 tied the previous record for species numbers with 45. Ron Martin says good weather was at least partially responsible. Newcomers to the count were two COMMON RAVENS. Two PINE GROSBEAKS made an appearance, the first for that species since 1992. Counters set new highs for PURPLE FINCHES with 66, DOWNY WOODPECKERS with 45, SHARP-TAILED GROUSE with 114, RING-NECKED PHEASANTS with 178, GRAY PARTRIDGE with 204, and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS with five. Another highlight was the six raptor species, compared to the previous high of four. For details on that count, contact Ron at jrmartin@srt.com.
The Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge count on December 18 recorded 24 species, down slightly from previous years. Biologist Mike Rabenberg says counters set high records for GRAY PARTRIDGE with 29, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS with seven, BLUE JAYS with 47, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES with two, CHIPPING SPARROWS with four, and SNOW BUNTINGS with 2,602. Contact Mike at 701-387-4397.
Mark Otnes found at least one first-of-the-year bird during a January 1 drive from Fargo to Embden and Chaffee and back to Fargo again. In addition to the AMERICAN CROW, he also saw NORTHERN SHRIKE, three CANADA GEESE, a large flock of COMMON REDPOLLS, four BLUE JAYS, many large flocks of DARK-EYED JUNCOS and SNOW BUNTINGS, three LAPLAND LONGSPURS, and one flock of HOUSE SPARROWS. For details, Mark is at 701-241-4194.
Gary Nielsen saw about 300 MALLARDS fly over north Fargo on January 1. He followed them to the North Dakota State University beef feedlot on the north edge of town. Contact Gary at 701-232-3855.
Ron Martin and Marty Anderson each saw a SNOWY OWL in a treetop near Logan on December 31, but at different times. Ron says it's unusual to see the species in the Souris River Valley. He's at jrmartin@srt.com.
Two adult WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS arrived in Dan Buchanan's yard in northeast Jamestown during a December 30 snowstorm. Dan reports he had only seen the adult male in two previous sightings, but the most recent pair included a female. Contact him at 701-252-6604.
Mark Gonzalez had a good variety of visitors to his northwest Bismarck yard on December 29-30. His sightings included the CHUKAR, which has become a regular, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, MERLIN, about 20 AMERICAN ROBINS, and 12 other species. You can reach Mark at 701-250-4443, extension 106.
And, we're told that Clark Talkington joined the 300 club for county birds. His was in Burleigh County.
If you were waiting for results from the Denbigh Christmas Bird Count, you'll be disappointed to learn it was cancelled.
That concludes this week's report from the North Dakota Birding Society.
