Between Duluth and Two Harbors today, 21 Oct, there were several birds of interest, including a female-plumaged Summer Tanager at Stoney Point, plus a total of 22 Black-backed Woodpeckers and 15 Boreal Chickadees along the North Shore.
Linda Sparling and I observed the tanager near the stone wall at the west end of Stoney Pt around 10 am, but the bird was lost from view and could not be relocated after 2 brief sightings a few minutes apart. We also counted 17 Black-backed Woodpeckers moving SW down the N Shore between 8:30 am and noon, and the morning's total was 22 individuals after adding in 5 additional Black-backeds seen by Mike Hendrickson. The locations were: - 1 just E of Brighton Beach - 1 at McQuade Rd & Scenic Hwy 61 - 2 by the Sucker River near Homestead Rd - 11 along Stoney Point Dr between the stone wall and Alseth Rd - 7 in Knife River along Skiff Landing Rd. (Note that 21 Black-backed Woodpeckers had been counted from the Hawk Ridge Main Overlook on 13 Oct.) During the same 3.5-hour time period, Linda and I had 13 Boreal Chickadees, and there were 2 others seen by Mike, for a total of 15 individuals. These locations were: - 2 just E of Brighton Beach - 1 at McQuade Rd & Scenic Hwy 61 - 6 near the stone wall at Stoney Pt - 6 in Knife River along Skiff Landing Rd. Other birds of note today along the N Shore were: several N Shrikes and Com Redpolls at various locations, a Gray Jay and a late Am Redstart in Two Harbors at Lighthouse Pt, and a Red Crossbill at Stoney Pt. And, finally, a belated note that yesterday, 20 Oct, both Red-throated and Pacific loons were relocated on the L Superior side of Park Point in Duluth: the Red-throated at 16th Street and the Pacific at 22nd Street. Kim Eckert
