The North Dakota Birding Hotline is operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Dakota Birding Society. To access the telephone birding hotline, call 701-355-8554.
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North Dakota Birding Society. This report was prepared on Tuesday, November 3, 2009.
One of the best birds of fall for two veteran birders.
Corey Ellingson and Ron Martin watched as a PACIFIC LOON landed with three COMMON LOONS at Bowman-Haley Reservoir in southwestern North Dakota on October 30. They also saw three other COMMON LOONS at the site, as well as an adult NORTHERN GOSHAWK. At Lake Tschida that day, they saw SWAMP SPARROW and two YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. Hettinger County brought views of seven GOLDEN EAGLES and a PRAIRIE FALCON, while Cedar Dam in Slope County held a PECTORAL SANDPIPER and three LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS. A return to Bowman-Haley the next day revealed only one COMMON LOON, while White Lake in Slope County produced four RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS and four PRAIRIE FALCONS. In Dickinson, they saw a BOHEMIAN WAXWING at the ND State University Experiment Station. Corey also had success at the Bismarck landfill on November 2. Over the noon hour, he saw two adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS side-by-side, a CALIFORNIA GULL, and a first-cycle THAYER'S GULL, but no Franklin's gulls. For details, contact Corey at crackerjackbirder@bis.midco.net.
Ron Martin found a SURF SCOTER at the Minot lagoons on October 27 and 28. Birding in McHenry County with David Walsh on November 2, Ron added another SURF SCOTER, 110 HOODED MERGANSERS, and COMMON LOON at Round Lake, NORTHERN GOSHAWK near Sawyer, plus four ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, three GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 10 COMMON RAVENS, and COMMON REDPOLL. On November 2, Ron found a LONG-TAILED DUCK at the Minot lagoons. You can reach him at jrmartin@srt.com.
Lillian Crook saw two flocks of about 100 SANDHILL CRANES each plus six BALD EAGLES at Cross Ranch State Park on October 28. Between Washburn and Wilton, she reported 2000 CACKLING GEESE plus SNOW GEESE. On the Missouri River west of Washburn, she reported 50 TUNDRA SWANS. Contact Lillian at lilliancrook@hotmail.com.
From New Town, Bernice Houser saw four EASTERN BLUEBIRDS in her yard on October 27, although she was down to two DARK-EYED JUNCOS. Overall, Bernice is noticing a scarcity of fall migrants. She's at sanishnd@rtc.coop.
The end of October meant the end of most of the sparrows in Dave Lambeth's yard in Grand Forks. In late October, he saw HARRIS' SPARROW, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, TREE SPARROW, SONG SPARROW, and FOX SPARROW plus five PURPLE FINCHES, but all that remained on November 1 was the WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. However, on Halloween on the University of ND campus, Dave saw a flock of 16-WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, and noted that the species has over-wintered there in the past. Dave''s feeders still hosted RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, PINE SISKIN, two COMMON GRACKLES, and two NORTHERN CARDINALS. A visit to Kellys Slough National Wildlife Refuge on October 31 revealed five ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS. You can reach Dave at davidlambeth58201@yahoo.com.
Keith Corliss saw only his second COMMON RAVEN in Cass County in the past 20 years on November 1. Birding with Dean Riemer, Keith saw the raven near the lagoons in north Fargo. For details, it's koolhand@juno.com.
Larry Igl forwards a report from Hal Kantrud, who saw a female RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER in his yard southeast of Jamestown on November 1. You can reach Larry at 701-253-5511.
That concludes this week's report from the North Dakota Birding Society.
