I went out to Park Point this past Thursday with a friend from Hawk Ridge. We had some great finds! Our morning started out at 7am, and we birded for about 2 hours before heading out for the day. Sightings/pictures are below... * Park Point Pictures* White-throated Sparrow, among fall colors http://www.pbase.com/image/138531695
Sanderling (the first shot is one of my favorites from this past week) http://www.pbase.com/image/138531689 http://www.pbase.com/image/138531683 http://www.pbase.com/image/138531685 Sunrise at Park Point http://www.pbase.com/image/138531611 Ring-billed Gull http://www.pbase.com/image/138531681 *Park Point--Dune Bridge near airport, St. Louis, US-MN* (my Sept 29th eBird list from that morning) Canada Goose 11 American Wigeon 1 Mallard 5 Blue-winged Teal 10 Northern Pintail 3 Green-winged Teal 25 Ring-necked Duck 3 Greater/Lesser Scaup 40 Common Merganser 3 Bald Eagle 2 American Kestrel 2 Peregrine Falcon 1 Sanderling 7 Ring-billed Gull 20 Herring Gull 4 Great Black-backed Gull 1 (1st-cycle) Hairy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 American Crow 1 Hermit Thrush 1 American Redstart 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 15 Swamp Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow 20 Dark-eyed Junco 2 *Wisconsin Point* (pictures, to add to Chris West's post about WI Point earlier this week) This is belated by several days, but I wanted to add some photos of a confusing gull that I found birding at Wisconsin Point with Chris West this past week. These photos are from the same morning that Chris and I went out birding at the point. The gull-of-interest's body was larger and more robust than the immature Herring Gulls' bodies, which the gull was seen near at times (it was initially seen among Ring-billed Gulls and a few distant Herring Gulls on the beach). The thing that initially alerted me to this gull was the pale grayish-tan head with mostly-pink bill, which had a black tip. The bill was very reminiscent of an immature California Gull (color-wise), but the bill was very "chunky" and thick in profile. I never got great looks at this gull's primaries/lower backside, but the entire mantle area was monotone pale gray/tan, lacking any light or dark scallops throughout the back feathers. In addition to the bill size/profile, this gulls' head was more blockier and larger in comparison than the Herring Gulls' heads. After about 5-10 minutes of watching this gull, it took off with the rest of the gulls, and this particular gull did not have a high-contrast, black trailing edge of the wings while seen in flight (the contrastive, dark trailing edge of the open wings can be a good trait to look for with immature Herring Gulls). Sorry about the late notification about the gull. I've been really busy this week and just got around to uploading the pictures today. Possible Nelson's Gull http://www.pbase.com/image/138531637 http://www.pbase.com/image/138531639 http://www.pbase.com/image/138531641 Ring-billed Gull, looking at me http://www.pbase.com/image/138531643 Black-bellied Plover http://www.pbase.com/image/138531634 Here is my gallery of the Nelson's Gull observed two years ago at Wisconsin Point, for comparison http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/nelsons_gull * **I went to Wisconsin Point Friday morning, and had a single juvenile THAYER'S GULL at the Superior Entry, seen on the MN of the entry. * Hawk Ridge (Duluth, MN) from this past week* Adult female Sharp-shinned Hawk http://www.pbase.com/image/138531555 For anyone interested in learning more about owls and the migration that these owls partake-in every year, Hawk Ridge will be hosting the "Owl Evening" program for the next three Saturdays of October. All are welcome! The program starts at 8:30pm every Saturday night, and goes until 11:30pm. You might even get to "adopt" a Northern Saw-whet Owl! The amazing raptors banders at the ridge band the diurnal raptors by-day, and owls by-night! I attended the program for a little while last night, and there was a "flow" of S'wets at the program. Owl migration is very weather-dependent, and I wanted to share this opportunity with all of you :-) For more information about Hawk Ridge, go to www.hawkridge.org. To find out more about the Owl Evenings, and the many other fun presentations at the ridge, click on "public programs" located under the Education tab on the Hawk Ridge homepage. Good birding, Erik Bruhnke Duluth, MN -- *NATURALLY AVIAN* - Bird photography and guided birdwatching trips www.pbase.com/birdfedr www.naturallyavian.blogspot.com [email protected] ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
