Spent the better half of the morning, 4/15/08, birding 40th avenue west and Minnesota Point in Duluth. The strong south winds clearly blew in some migrants today. At 40th avenue west I observed the following: several ringbilled ducks, several wood ducks,(FOY) several hooded mergansers including 4 males doing all kinds of antics for one female, very entertaining:) 1 northern shrike, 2 northern flickers, (FOY) several song sparrows, (FOY) and for the insect lovers, my FOY mourning cloak butterfly. Near Minnesota Point: American White Pelican (FOY) At Minnesota Point: Northern Shoveler (FOY) Pied Billed Grebe (FOY) 2 Osprey (FOY) Approx. 30 sharp shinned hawks (FOY) At least 20 red tailed hawks Several Turkey Vultures, Rough legged Hawks, Bald Eagles, Frankly there were MANY raptors moving down the shoreline of Minnesota Point this mid morning riding the strong southern current northward, many of these I was not able to identify with certainty. In the 1 and half hours that I was at Minnesota Point, I would put a conservative estimate of 150 to 200 raptors seen. The sharp shinneds were moving down the shoreline quite low in the sky, great fun to watch but very hard to track with binocs due to the speed of their flight. Happy Birding. Shawn Zierman.
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