Though the birding has been generally very slow in NE Minn this fall, even through last Friday the 28th, things seemed to improve considerably over the weekend along the North Shore, with a few rarities and increased numbers of individuals of more expected birds. The group on our annual so-called "Muffin Trip" Sat morning through about Sunday noon saw the following:
Saturday: - Cackling Goose / Two Harbors, 5 or 6 in the cemetery along Hwy 61 - Cattle Egret / Grand Marais inner harbor (also present Sunday) - Golden Eagle / flying SW past Silver Cliff tunnel, Lake Co - Black-bellied Plover / Two Harbors, rocks behind lighthouse - Cape May Warbler / Tofte, near Bluefin Bay office (another seen by others Sunday in Grand Marais) - Red Crossbill / 2 at Stoney Point (also a few 100 migrating Purple Finch) Sunday: - Long-tailed Duck & all 3 scoters / various locations, with all 4 species together on the lake at mile 116 (about halfway between Grand Marais & Paradise Beach) - Western Kingbird & Swainson's Thrush / along Hwy 61 near mile 118 (tail pattern checked on kingbird to preclude other SW species) - Bohemian Waxwing / just a few near Grand Marais, mostly at Croftville - Pine Warbler / Grand Marais campground, along 8th Ave - Summer Tanager / E of Grand Marais along Hwy 61, about 1/4 mi W of west end of Croftville Rd (feeding w/robins in mountain ash; still an abundance of berries in Duluth/N Shore) - Rose-breasted/Black-headed Grosbeak? / near E end of Croftville Rd (distant looks before it flew N across Hwy 61 & out of sight; probably a Rose-breasted) The Grand Marais birding festival was also going on this weekend, so it's likely there were other notable sightings of which I'm unaware. - Kim Eckert
