RBA: North Dakota, October 27, 2009

[Jane Kostenko]

* RBA

* North Dakota
* Statewide
* October 27, 2009
* NDST0910.27

- Transcript

Hotline: North Dakota Update
Date: October 27, 2009
Number: 701-527-0730
To Report: 701-527-0730
Coverage: Statewide
Compiler: Ken Torkelson
Compiled: October 27, 2009
Transcriber: Jane Kostenko
mailto: tork02@...

- Birds Mentioned


Hermit Thrush

Orange-crowned Warbler

Fox Sparrow

Greater White-fronted Goose

Snow Goose

Ross's Goose

Blue-winged Teal

American White Pelican

Snowy Egret

Black-crowned Night Heron

Gray Partridge

Bonaparte's Gull

Cattle Egret

Dunlin

Long-billed Dowitcher

Franklin's Gull

Wood Duck

Northern Flicker

Yellow-wumped Warbler

Lincoln's Sparrow

Ferruginous Hawk

Lesser Scaup

Great Egret

Herring Gull

Thayer's Gull

Common Tern

American Pipit

American Bittern

Sanderling

Burrowing Owl

White-winged Scoter

Common Loon

American Golden-Plover

Prairie Falcon

Surf Scoter

Red-tailed Hawk

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Smith's Longspur

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Northern Shrike

Great Horned Owl

Sharp-tailed Grouse

Dark-eyed Junco

Tundra Swan

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Winter Wren

Marsh Wren

Cooper's Hawk

Northern Cardinal

Red-bellied Woodpecker

American Tree Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Harris's Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

Purple Finch

House Finch

Merlin

Brown Creeper

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Pileated Woodpecker

American Woodcock

Eastern Phoebe

Chipping Sparrow


Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the North
Dakota Birding Society. This report was prepared on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
Unless otherwise noted, any phone numbers mentioned are area code 701.

Transcriber's Note: Birds listed in ALL CAPS in the Birds Mentioned
section signify that the Revised Checklist of North Dakota Birds
lists them as Occasional, Accidental, Extirpated, or never having
occurred before for the season being reported.



Seasonal firsts continue to make their appearances.

Corey Ellingson counted at least five HERMIT THRUSHES, his first of the

fall, on Oct. 21 at Sleepy Hollow Park in Bismarck. Other sightings there

included ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, Corey's latest ever.  His other seasonal

first was a FOX SPARROW in the Highland Acres area, just south of Bismarck

State College. You can contact Corey at crackerjackbirder@...

Clark Talkington  found a good variety of bird life on Oct. 26. In the

Woodworth area, he saw 150 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, about 12,000 SNOW

GEESE, 12 ROSS'S GEESE, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, two SNOWY

EGRETS, BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, 17 GRAY PARTRIDGE and eight BONAPARTE'S

GULLS. In the Dawson area, Clark recorded another BLUE-WINGED TEAL, two

SNOWY EGRETS, CATTLE EGRET, two DUNLINS, 12 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, three

FRANKLIN'S GULLS and two BONAPARTE'S GULLS. On Oct. 25, the Tesoro Refinery

in Mandan held eight WOOD DUCKS, two red-shafted NORTHERN FLICKERS, two

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and LINCOLN'S SPARROW, and Clark added a FERRUGINOUS

HAWK in southeastern Morton County. In the Dawson area on Oct. 23, he

observed about 10,000 LESSER SCAUP and four GREAT EGRETS, while Horsehead

Lake offered HERRING GULL, THAYER'S GULL, COMMON TERN and four AMERICAN

PIPITS. McKenzie Slough held AMERICAN BITTERN on Oct. 22 and 25 plus two

SANDERLINGS. Clark discovered two BURROWING OWLS in southeastern Morton

County on the 22nd. You can reach him at 663-8103.

Ron Martin saw two WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS at the Minot lagoons on Oct. 23.

On the following day, he saw six COMMON LOONS at Round Lake in McHenry

County, plus two GREAT EGRETS and a BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON in Pierce

County, plus a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER at Antelope Lake. At the Minot lagoons

on Oct. 19, Ron saw a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, followed on the 20th by 60

AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS, and on the 21st by a PRAIRIE FALCON, SURF SCOTER

and immature Harlan's RED-TAILED HAWK. Ron's yard near Sawyer was visited

by a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL on Oct. 18, and Ron was part of a group that saw

150 SMITH'S LONGSPURS in a pasture in Foster County, and about 20 more in

Stutsman County. For details, contact Ron at jrmartin @srt.com

Rod Fossen had better luck birding than hunting north of Minot in Renville

County on Oct. 24. He saw three BALD EAGLES including one juvenile, five

NORTHERN HARRIERS, NORTHERN SHRIKE, a very  pale GREAT HORNED OWL, plus

two SHARP-TAILED GROUSE in Ward County and 40 more in Renville County.

Rod's travels took him to the Devils Lake area on Oct. 21 and 22, where

he saw a dark Harlan's RED-TAILED HAWK northeast of Devils Lake. He

reported that DARK-EYED JUNCOS are common in the area, and he also

recorded an adult BALD EAGLE near Norwich. You can reach Rod at

rfossen@...

From the Carrington area, Ann Hoffert says TUNDRA SWANS have been hanging

around for a couple of weeks. She counted 150 on Oct. 25, along with lots

of SNOW GEESE. She's at pipestem@...

Betsy Batstone-Cunningham saw a pair of HERMIT THRUSHES in her back yard

on the Grand Forks Greenway on Oct. 22. She's at batsham@...

A RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET landed in Rick Holbrook's Fargo yard on Oct. 24.

Details at fholbrook@...

Dennis Wiesenborn has been birding north Fargo and Moorhead. On Oct. 25,

Trefoil Park held WINTER WREN, two MARSH WRENS, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET,

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER and COOPER'S HAWK. The previous day, he saw male

and female NORTHERN CARDINALS and a female RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, plus a

large flock of sparrows in Mickelson Park. The flock was mainly DARK-EYED

JUNCOS, but included many AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS, SONG SPARROWS and

WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, but also several FOX SPARROWS and one or two

HARRIS'S SPARROWS, SWAMP SPARROWS and LINCOLN'S SPARROWS plus some PURPLE

FINCHES and HOUSE FINCHES. The weekend brought sightings of ORANGE-CROWNED

WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, GREAT HORNED OWL, MERLIN, NORTHERN SHRIKE,

BROWN CREEPER, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, HERMIT THRUSH, PILEATED WOODPECKER

and male RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. Dennis also reported hundreds of FRANKLIN'S

GULLS overhead. Contact him at d.wiesenborn@...

Keith Corliss birded Elmwood Park in West Fargo on Oct. 22, and saw his

first NORTHERN SHRIKE and two AMERICAN WOODCOCKS of the season. He also

recorded nine FOX SPARROWS, two EASTERN PHOEBES, 12 HERMIT THRUSHES and

a WINTER WREN. Keith is at koolhand@...

Mark Otnes found good birding along the river in Wahpeton on Oct. 23.

He tallied EASTERN PHOEBE, five HERMIT THRUSHES, three FOX SPARROWS,

two CHIPPING SPARROWS, five HARRIS'S SPARROWS, and "abundant" WHITE-THROATED

SPARROWS and DARK-EYED JUNCOS. However, he reported very little going on

at the Mooreton pond. Contact Mark at 241-4194.

That concludes this report from the North Dakota Birding Society. This
report is normally updated each Tuesday.

- end transcript