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North Dakota Birding Hotline Reports November 2007 |
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Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This report was prepared on Tuesday, November 27. This week we have more late fall birds as well as more early winter birds.
Dan Svingen found two PRAIRIE FALCONS and a GOLDEN EAGLE near Arena in northeastern Burleigh County on November 23. He says most of the water was already frozen, but there was a good variety and good numbers of waterfowl at Lake Brekken, Lake Holmes, and Lightning Lake near the town of Turtle Lake. At Garrison Dam, Dan saw about 300 gulls, an AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, and a BLUE-WINGED TEAL. On November 25, he birded Nelson Lake in Morton County and the Missouri River, finding thousands of MALLARDS, CANADA GEESE, and CACKLING GEESE, but not many other waterfowl species. On November 20, Dan hooked up with Ryan Shively who has been conducting avian flu monitoring for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since mid-October. They couldn’t re-find the SMEW Ryan had seen a day earlier at Davis Waterfowl Production Area in Sheridan County, but saw a “brown” GYRFALCON chasing a PRAIRIE FALCON, as well as a RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. Ryan’s other sightings in the past month or so have included YELLOW-BILLED LOON, COMMON EIDER, HARLEQUIN DUCK, LONG-TAILED DUCK, and others. You can reach Dan Svingen at 701-250-4443, extension 107.
Eve Freeberg saw three SNOWY OWLS northwest of Grand Forks on November 24, and also noticed a large number of ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS. Other sightings that day included seven NORTHERN HARRIERS, PRAIRIE FALCON, NORTHERN SHRIKE, seven BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS, and two CANVASBACKS. On November 26, Eve saw 23 COMMON MERGANSERS, seven COMMON GOLDENEYES, two LESSER SCAUP, AMERICAN WIGEON, five BONAPARTE’S GULLS, and three RING-BILLED GULLS. For more information, call Eve at 701-741-8105. The West Fargo lagoons still had two cells with open water on November 21, but most was gone by the following day. Dean Riemer had good birding there for two days. On November 22, he saw 500 CANADA GEESE, 50 CACKLING GEESE, 100 MALLARDS, three COMMON GOLDENEYES, a BONAPARTE’S GULL, and a BALD EAGLE. On the following day, he added 106 TUNDRA SWANS, 500 CANADA GEESE, seven MALLARDS, four COMMON MERGANSERS, and a BALD EAGLE. You can reach Dean at driemer@kwh.com. Mark Otnes birded Barnes County north of Valley City on November 23. A small patch of open water on Hobart Lake held some CANADA GEESE and a few ducks. He had the most success at Bald Hill Dam. Below the dam, he saw a female NORTHERN CARDINAL, two BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS, about 20 CEDAR WAXWINGS, and a NORTHERN SHRIKE. Behind the headquarters building, Mark added a flock of RED CROSSBILLS and AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, about 15 of each. He discovered open water above the dam, and saw more than 1,000 CANADA GEESE and CACKLING GEESE, 50 MALLARDS, eight NORTHERN SHOVELERS, three CANVASBACKS, a REDHEAD, eight scaup species, and two AMERICAN COOTS. The only raptor Mark saw during the whole trip was a single adult BALD EAGLE just east of Oriska. Contact him at 701-241-4194 or markotnes@cableone.net. From Jamestown, Larry Igl reports John Lokemoen had a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER and a NORTHERN FLICKER at his feeders last week. Larry noted large flocks of TUNDRA SWANS and SNOW GEESE flying over Jamestown on November 22. Amy Igl saw thousands of CANADA GEESE on the Jamestown Reservoir that day, as well as an adult BALD EAGLE in northeast Jamestown the following day. For details, call Larry at 701-253-5511. Dan Buchanan also saw an adult BALD EAGLE in Jamestown. His was on November 24, just west of the Butler Caterpillar dealership. Later, Dan watched a RED-TAILED HAWK just south of Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. Earlier last week, a neighbor saw a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER in northeast Jamestown. Contact Dan at 701-252-6604 or bulaw@daktel.com. Bob Peterson was surprised to see a lone TUNDRA SWAN fly by his house and land on a frozen lake near Heimdal in Benson County on November 24. Bob says the swan stayed only about 20 minutes and then headed south. For more information, it’s kq6af@gondtc.com. That concludes this report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Dakota Birding Society. This report is normally updated each Tuesday. The Fish and Wildlife Service operates 62 National Wildlife Refuges and more than 1,100 Waterfowl Production Areas in North Dakota...offering some of the best birding opportunities in the state. Contact Refuge offices for more information about visiting. For phone numbers of individual Refuges, as well as additional information, go to the Fish and Wildlife Service web site at www.fws.gov. Click on the map at the bottom of the page, and click on North Dakota on the next map.
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This report was prepared on Tuesday, November 20. Back to gulls and ducks this week, but there’s a seasonal first and a list of many Christmas Bird Counts. It could be an escapee, but the SMEW found by Ryan Shively on November 19 is definitely unique. Ryan discovered the bird on the Davis Waterfowl Production Area, which is one mile east of Highway 14 in southeastern Sheridan County. You can reach Ryan at 701-442-5474. Corey Ellingson discovered an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at C dike on Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge on November 12. He also saw the late AMERICAN AVOCET mentioned last week, but notes that bird numbers at the refuge and surrounding area were low. For details, contact Corey at tcellingson@juno.com. Ron Martin observed a LONG-TAILED DUCK at the Minot sewage lagoons on November 15 and 16, and saw it again on November 20. Other birds at the site at mid-month included a PRAIRIE FALCON and 600 SNOW BUNTINGS. On November 20, cell #5 at the lagoons held a BLACK SCOTER. For more information, contact Ron at jrmartin@srt.com. Weston Weisenburger found a male LONG-TAILED DUCK at Cherry Lake in Kidder County on November 7 and again on November 15. He says the bird was near the boat ramp on the south side of the lake. Also on November 15, Weston saw what appeared to be a cross between a snow goose and a Canada goose on Clear Lake in Burleigh County. You can reach him at Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge, 701-387-4397.
November 17 was an interesting birding day for Linda and Joe Gregg at Horace. Linda saw her first NORTHERN SHRIKE of the season...in action just outside the window. Snow made their feeders popular with four EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES, a female NORTHERN CARDINAL, a large flock of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, and others. They report seeing the doves in town all summer, but this was their first appearance in the Gregg yard. Other arrivals that day included a small flock of COMMON REDPOLLS. Contact the Greggs at lgregg@wah.midco.net. Bernice Houser recorded her first COMMON REDPOLL of the season on November 13 at her feeders near New Town. She says the lone bird arrived with a flock of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES and PINE SISKINS. Bernice still has a few HOUSE FINCHES, HAIRY WOODPECKERS, DOWNY WOODPECKERS, a lone WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, a couple BLUE JAYS, and a red-shafted male NORTHERN FLICKER. You can reach Bernice at sanishnd@hotmail.com. Now, the Christmas Bird Counts as we have them so far: That concludes this report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Dakota Birding Society. This report is normally updated each Tuesday. The Fish and Wildlife Service operates 62 National Wildlife Refuges and more than 1,100 Waterfowl Production Areas in North Dakota...offering some of the best birding opportunities in the state. Contact Refuge offices for more information about visiting. For phone numbers of individual Refuges, as well as additional information, go to the Fish and Wildlife Service web site at www.fws.gov. Click on the map at the bottom of the page, and click on North Dakota on the next map.
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This report was prepared on Tuesday, November 13. A loon takes the spotlight this week, but there are other good sightings.
Another whooper report. Carol McCullough saw three WHOOPING CRANES in flight on November 7. She reported seeing the trio about three or four miles north of Turtle Lake in east-central McLean County. Carol says the birds were heading west. You can reach her at 701-667-0734. Dan Svingen recorded a late AMERICAN AVOCET and WHITE-FACED IBIS at Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Burleigh County on November 10. He says the refuge also held lots of GREATER SCAUP and about 1,000 gulls including a couple of CALIFORNIA GULLS, a first-winter THAYER’S GULL, and several dozen HERRING GULLS, although most were RING-BILLED GULLS. For details, contact Dan at 701-250-4443, extension 107. Rita Satermo was pleased on November 13 when an EVENING GROSBEAK made two appearances in her yard near New Town. She reports the bird mingled with PURPLE FINCHES, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, and AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, as well as a DOWNY WOODPECKER. You can reach Rita at rsatermo@rtc.coop.
Dave Lambeth racked up 43 species along the west side of the Red River Valley from Larimore to Icelandic State Park on November 6. The list included a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL, 45 WILD TURKEYS, and two TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRES at Icelandic State Park, and a COMMON RAVEN at Fordville Dam. He found a large mixed flock of PINE SISKINS and AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, a MOURNING DOVE, and a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK in a sunflower field. Dave also saw two flocks of CEDAR WAXWINGS of at least 50 birds each, feeding on juniper berries. He heard a EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE in Fordville. Although most shallow wetlands were frozen over, the deeper lakes held waterfowl. He saw TUNDRA SWAN, CANADA GOOSE, CACKLING GOOSE, WOOD DUCK, MALLARD, REDHEAD, LESSER SCAUP, COMMON GOLDENEYE, and HOODED MERGANSER. Other sightings that day included four BALD EAGLES, three ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, two RED-TAILED HAWKS, a NORTHERN SHRIKE, at least 25 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, and a HARRIS’ SPARROW. Dave drove the Grand Forks County grasslands on November 9, finding 31 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, 10 NORTHERN HARRIERS, and two NORTHERN SHRIKES. He watched about a dozen BLUE JAYS which didn’t seem at all threatened by a nearby immature male MERLIN. Back in Grand Forks, Dave’s yard still has four FOX SPARROWS, a HARRIS’ SPARROW, and a male NORTHERN CARDINAL, although the WHITE-THROATED SPARROW hasn’t been seen since November 7. Other feeder visitors on November 9 included three PURPLE FINCHES and quite a few PINE SISKINS and AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES. For details, contact Dave at davidlambeth58201@yahoo.com. Cathy Clayton and John Hoganson saw a lot of SNOW BUNTINGS in Kidder County on November 12. They ran into a mixed flock of more than 100 LAPLAND LONGSPURS, SNOW BUNTINGS, and HORNED LARKS. They also saw five EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES in Napoleon. You can reach Cathy at parula349@yahoo.com. That concludes this report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Dakota Birding Society. This report is normally updated each Tuesday. The Fish and Wildlife Service operates 62 National Wildlife Refuges and more than 1,100 Waterfowl Production Areas in North Dakota...offering some of the best birding opportunities in the state. Contact Refuge offices for more information about visiting. For phone numbers of individual Refuges, as well as additional information, go to the Fish and Wildlife Service web site at www.fws.gov. Click on the map at the bottom of the page, and click on North Dakota on the next map.
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This report was prepared on Tuesday, November 6. The scoter reports are still coming in, but not so many unusual gull sightings this week. Ron Martin birded McHenry, Pierce, and Wells counties on November 4. Highlights included a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER on Round Lake in McHenry County and a BLACK SCOTER on Goose Lake in Wells County. Ron estimated a total of 70,000 snow geese, 520 TUNDRA SWANS, 885 BUFFLEHEADS, 555 HOODED MERGANSERS, and 180 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS at Antelope Lake in Pierce County. Ron passes along a report from Gary Eslinger at J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge near Upham, where a dozen EVENING GROSBEAKS were taking advantage of his feeder on October 30. Gary says it’s the largest flock reported in a number of years. That same day brought two NORTHERN GOSHAWKS to the creek bottom near Ron’s home at Sawyer. You can reach him at jrmartin@srt.com. Mark Otnes discovered a lone adult female BLACK SCOTER and a single adult male WHITE-WINGED SCOTER on Eckelson Lake in Barnes County on November 2. Mark says the two were sticking fairly close together. At the Dawson WMA in Kidder County, he got two TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRES, along with good numbers of CEDAR WAXWINGS and PINE SISKINS, plus fair numbers of AMERICAN ROBINS. Elsewhere, Mark saw seven RUSTY BLACKBIRDS at Dewald Slough, 19 more in Dawson, and another eight at Crystal Springs. At Camp Grassick, he added at least three RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES and two PURPLE FINCHES. Mark notes that PINE SISKINS were common to abundant wherever there were conifers in Kidder County. He saw three late flocks of SANDHILL CRANES at Crystal Springs, his first ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK of the fall near Spiritwood in Stutsman County, and a single PRAIRIE FALCON at Eckelson Lake. Mark has decided to retract his retraction of his October 26 sighting of two COMMON REDPOLLS at Bald Hill Dam in Barnes County. He decided to stick by his identification after several others reported sightings. For more information, contact Mark at 701-241-4194.
Sherry Leslie’s husband got a good look at two adult WHOOPING CRANES standing in a stubble field about 10 miles north of McGregor on November 1. He also reported swans on nearly every large body of water in that part of northwestern North Dakota. You can reach Sherry at 701-725-4389. Larry Igl found a drake AMERICAN BLACK DUCK on the Jamestown sewage lagoon on November 4. Dave Lambeth recorded a male WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL in Grand Forks on November 2. It was only his second yard record in 13 years. One day earlier, Dave kept a list while doing chores around his house and yard. He saw DOWNY WOODPECKER, HAIRY WOODPECKER, three BLUE JAYS, two AMERICAN CROWS, four BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, two RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, two WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, six FOX SPARROWS, two WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, two HARRIS’ SPARROWS, 45 DARK-EYED JUNCOS, a male NORTHERN CARDINAL, PURPLE FINCH, two PINE SISKINS, five AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, and six HOUSE SPARROWS. On November 4, Dave and Cec saw two BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS in a small flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS in the Koininia area of the Grand Forks Greenway. The same area held a few hundred AMERICAN ROBINS dining on crabapples. On November 3, a total of five PURPLE FINCHES, including two adult males, came to the Lambeth’s feeders. Contact them at davidlambeth58201@yahoo.com. Ross Lagasse had a small flock of RED CROSSBILLS fly over him on November 1 while he was doing some work in Ray. He also counted at least eight EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES in town. You can reach Ross at on2stix@yahoo.com. Charles Taft quickly counted about 40 PINE SISKINS at and around his feeders and water places in west Minot on November 2. Other visitors included RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, and DARK-EYED JUNCO, plus a HARRIS’ SPARROW and several HOUSE FINCHES. One day earlier, Charles saw six CEDAR WAXWINGS near the front of his house. You can call him at 701-852-1981. From just east of Minot, David Walsh recorded a variety of birds on November 4. His list included COMMON GRACKLES, AMERICAN ROBINS, BLUE JAYS, DOWNY WOODPECKERS, HARRIS’ SPARROWS, CHIPPING SPARROW, DARK-EYED JUNCO, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, HOUSE FINCH, CEDAR WAXWINGS, AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, PINE SISKINS, and BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES. For details, contact David at davidw@ndak.net. Kathy Jacobson says the RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH that she has been hearing in her trees near Deering for over a month has finally started coming to her feeders. She reports this is the first time for the species. Contact her at wesjacob@minot.com. A male NORTHERN CARDINAL showed up at Linda Gregg’s feeders near Horace on October 30. She’s at lgregg@wah.midco.net. Bernice Houser reported a larger-than-usual flock of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES in her yard near New Town on November 3. Other species included TREE SPARROW, DARK-EYED JUNCO, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, BLUE JAY, HAIRY WOODPECKER, DOWNY WOODPECKER, and four NORTHERN FLICKERS–two yellow-shafted and two red-shafted. She also saw two AMERICAN ROBINS in New Town that day. For details, Bernice is at sanishnd@hotmail.com. Diane Bingeman reports PINE SISKINS, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES at her feeders near Beach on November 6. She says the siskins are new arrivals, while the nuthatches have been around for about a month. Contact Diane at bingeman@midstate.net. Dennis Wiesenborn says redpolls have been passing through north Fargo and north Moorhead recently. He saw his first two redpoll flocks on November 1, but couldn’t make a positive identification. On November 3, Dennis reported a crossbill over his Woodland Drive neighborhood on November 3. Again, no positive identification. Dennis is at d.wiesenborn@ndsu.edu. Kristin Gonzalez saw several flocks of COMMON REDPOLLS north of Valley City on November 4. You can reach Mark Gonzalez at 701-250-4443, extension 106. From Winnipeg, Manitoba, Rob Parsons reports substantial numbers of redpolls moving through southern Manitoba in late October and early November, as well as a few sightings of BOREAL CHICKADEES in the city of Winnipeg and elsewhere. He’s at rparsons@icenter.net. And, for your long-range planning–Minnesota’s only winter bird festival is set for February 15-17 in Meadowlands. It’s what birders call Sax-Zim Bog. You can find out more information, as well as register at http://moumn.org/sax-zim/. That concludes this report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Dakota Birding Society. This report is normally updated each Tuesday. The Fish and Wildlife Service operates 62 National Wildlife Refuges and more than 1,100 Waterfowl Production Areas in North Dakota...offering some of the best birding opportunities in the state. Contact Refuge offices for more information about visiting. For phone numbers of individual Refuges, as well as additional information, go to the Fish and Wildlife Service web site at www.fws.gov. Click on the map at the bottom of the page, and click on North Dakota on the next map.
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Corey Ellingson discovered an adult male WHITE-WINGED SCOTER with a flock of MALLARDS just south of the Expressway bridge in Bismarck on November 22. He didn’t get to look long as an adult BALD EAGLE flushed the 1,000 birds, which included 21 apparent HERRING GULLS, four NORTHERN SHOVELERS, two GREEN-WINGED TEAL, and an AMERICAN COOT. Earlier in the day, Corey found a fair number of waterfowl on some open water at New Johns Lake in northwestern Burleigh County. His list included GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, SNOW GEESE, four ROSS’ GEESE, four GADWALLS, eight REDHEADS, 30 LESSER SCAUP, two BUFFLEHEADS, a flock of 112 COMMON MERGANSERS, RUDDY DUCK, AMERICAN COOT, and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS in both light morph and dark morph. For details, contact Corey at 
Tyler Bell and Jane Kostenko have been visiting in the Minot, Ross, and Stanley areas. Their birding activities included a trip to the Minot sewage lagoons with Sherry Leslie on November 21. The lagoons were almost completely frozen over, but they found a NORTHERN SHRIKE, an early SNOWY OWL, and a cold-looking RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. Other birds included lots of CANADA GEESE, CANVASBACKS, MALLARDS, RUDDY DUCKS, and a likely GREATER SCAUP. While at the lagoons, they had a phone call from Ron Martin, who had recorded a BLACK SCOTER at Buffalo Lake. On November 24, Tyler and Jane watched a mixed flock of COMMON REDPOLLS and PINE SISKINS near Ross. The flock was made up of at least 24 COMMON REDPOLLS, about a dozen PINE SISKINS, a single HOARY REDPOLL, a couple of BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH and a DOWNY WOODPECKER. For details, contact Tyler and Jane at 
Eve Freeberg saw her seasonal-first SNOWY OWL on November 18 northwest of Grand Forks. She reports the bird was an immature female. Eve also re-found the two LONG-TAILED DUCKS the same day. Other sightings included a young BLACK SCOTER on November 15, as well as 36 COMMON REDPOLLS, two EARED GREBES, and a HORNED GREBE northwest of Grand Forks on November 17. For details, call Eve at 701-741-8105. 
Corey Ellingson discovered a PACIFIC LOON on Alkaline Lake in southeastern Kidder County on November 10. Corey says the bird was found about 10 miles west of Streeter on County Road 37. He also saw lots of SNOW GEESE that day, including about 40,000 in the Dawson area and 10,000 more–plus a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER–on Lake McKenna, which is just west of Napoleon. At Mud Lake, 1.5 miles west of Lehr, he added another WHITE-WINGED SCOTER and a LONG-TAILED DUCK. Corey says the long-tail was in a flock of scaup, and the scoter was just 75 yards away. He also recorded a lone EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE in Lehr. For more information on those sightings, contact Corey at 
Eve Freeberg saw a juvenile PRAIRIE FALCON at 
Eve Freeberg started November by recording two BLACK SCOTERS northwest of Grand Forks. She followed that up the next day with two LONG-TAILED DUCKS in the same area. Eve stumbled onto a good selection of shorebirds near