North Dakota (Statewide) RBA
April 8, 2008
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 13:25:08 -0700
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Subject: RBA: North Dakota, April 8, 2008
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*RBA
*North Dakota
*Statewide
*April 8, 2008
*NDST0804.08
- Birds Mentioned
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL
Greater Scaup
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Eared Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Bald Eagle
American Coot
Baird's Sandpiper
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
THAYER'S GULL
Glaucous Gull
Song Sparrow
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Canvasback
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Tundra Swan
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Wood Duck
Gadwall
Sandhill Crane
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Common Grackle
American Wigeon
Lesser Scaup
Ring-necked Duck
Turkey Vulture
Bufflehead
Rusty Blackbird
PEREGRINE FALCON
Killdeer
American Tree Sparrow
Redhead
Ferruginous Hawk
Golden Eagle
Northern Pintail
American Avocet
Northern Shrike
Red-winged Blackbird
Lapland Longspur
Ruddy Duck
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-necked Phalarope
Mourning Dove
Chipping Sparrow
House Finch
Rough-legged Hawk
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Short-eared Owl
Snowy Owl
COMMON RAVEN
Snow Goose
Western Meadowlark
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Greater Prairie-Chicken
American Woodcock
Blue-winged Teal
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Snow Bunting
Eastern Phoebe
Canada Goose
Greater White-fronted Goose
Cackling Goose
Great Egret
Ross's Goose
Swainson's Hawk
Mallard
Tree Swallow
Bohemian Waxwing
Blue Jay
-Transcript
Welcome to the North Dakota Rare Bird Alert compiled by the
North Dakota Birding Society. This report was prepared on
Tuesday, April 8, 2008. All phone numbers are area code 701
unless otherwise noted.
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.
Lots of new arrivals this week, including some noteworthy ones.
Corey Ellingson discovered two adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS
and possible a third--a juvenile--at the Bismarck landfill on
April 4. If you want an update, contact Corey at tcellingson@juno.com
Clark Talkington covered some Missouri River sandbars, the
Tesoro refinery in Mandan, McKenzie Slough and Long Lake
National Wildlife Refuge on April 16. He came up with 10
duck species including one GREATER SCAUP, 95 COMMON GOLDENEYE,
47 HOODED MERGANSERS and 45 COMMON MERGANSERS. Other finds
included an EARED GREBE, 100 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS, 11
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, five BALD EAGLES, eight AMERICAN
COOTS, a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, about 5,000 RING-BILLED GULLS,
about 1,000 CALIFORNIA GULLS, 100 HERRING GULLS, a first-year
THAYER'S GULL, first-year GLAUCOUS GULL and a SONG SPARROW.
For details, contact Clark at ctalkington@bis.midco.net
Larry Igl has compiled a long list of new arrivals in Stutsman
and Barnes counties. The list includes PIED-BILLED GREBE and
GREAT BLUE HERON southeast of Jamestown, CANVASBACK and
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD near Wimbledon on March 31;
TUNDRA SWAN near Wimbledon, NORTHERN SHOVELER near Jamestown,
and both COMMON GOLDENEYE and HOODED MERGANSER at Northern
Prairie Wildlife Research Center on March 30; GREEN-WINGED
TEAL near Wimbledon and WOOD DUCK at Northern Prairie on
March 28; GADWALL near Spiritwood and Wimbledon, SANDHILL
CRANE near Wimbledon, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET southeast of
Jamestown, and COMMON GRACKLE near Wimbledon and Jamestown
on March 29; AMERICAN WIGEON and LESSER SCAUP near Millarton
on March 27; 15 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS over Jamestown,
RING-NECKED DUCK near Millarton and TURKEY VULTURE near
the Jamestown Reservoir on April 4; BUFFLEHEAD south of
Jamestown and at Northern Prairie, and RUSTY BLACKBIRD
near Wimbledon on April 2; PEREGRINE FALCON near Wimbledon
on April 1; RING-BILLED GULL southeast of Jamestown on
March 21; KILLDEER near LaMoure on March 22; AMERICAN TREE
SPARROW southeast of Jamestown on March 25; and many reports
of REDHEADS in late March. For more information, call Larry
at 253-5511.
Ron Martin birded Mountrail, Williams and McKenzie counties
with Corey Ellingson and Sherry Leslie on April 6. In Mountrail
County, they counted four FERRUGINOUS HAWK nests and a GOLDEN
EAGLE nest. They estimated 25,000 NORTHERN PINTAILS in Lewis
and Clark State Park. For details, try Ron at jrmartin@srt.com
Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge has been a busy place.
Biologist Mike Rabenberg says recent arrivals have included
AMERICAN COOT on April 4, followed by AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS
on April 5, COMMON GRACKLE on April 6 and AMERICAN AVOCET on
April 7. Before that, the Refuge saw 25 SANDHILL CRANES going
north, a late NORTHERN SHRIKE, several large flocks of RED-WINGED
BLACKBIRDS, and large numbers of migrating LAPLAND LONGSPURS near
Driscoll. The Refuge also recorded the first RING-NECKED DUCK of
the season, along with RUDDY DUCK, REDHEAD, a single male
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER and a flyover by four DOUBLE-CRESTED
CORMORANTS. On the Refuge's "C" Dike, Mike recorded GREAT BLUE
HERON, and an early RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. Mike reports the
nearby YMCA Waterfowl Production Area has been getting good use
by diving ducks and other waterfowl as well as gulls. Contact
Mike at 387-4397.
Sherry Leslie recorded her spring-first MOURNING DOVE and
earliest-ever CHIPPING SPARROW in her yard in rural Burlington
on April 1. She also reports good numbers of HOUSE FINCHES and
a long redpoll still present, and watched a flock of SANDHILL
CRANES fly over on March 30. Contact Sherry at sherry_leslie@excite.com
Dave Lambeth had two sessions of counting raptors in the Grand
Forks County grasslands on April 2. He counted 23 BALD EAGLES
at Kellys Slough National Wildlife Refuge, where nesting is
underway, 132 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS including about 20 percent
dark-morphs, 42 NORTHERN HARRIERS, nine RED-TAILED HAWKS,
an AMERICAN KESTREL, 21 SHORT-EARED OWLS and two SNOWY OWLS.
Other birds included two COMMON RAVENS and three sub-adult
BALD EAGLES on a road-killed rabbit, two NORTHERN SHRIKES,
about 50,000 SNOW GEESE heading south, good numbers of WESTERN
MEADOWLARKS, a pair of swans he couldn't get close enough to
identify, SHARP-TAILED GROUSE and a few GREATER PRAIRIE-CHICKENS.
On April 3, Dave was surprised to see an AMERICAN WOODCOCK in
his yard--his first in 13 years there, and he notes that Bear,
the male PEREGRINE FALCON, has returned to the Grand Forks water
tower. Contact Dave at davidlambeth58201@yahoo.com
Also from Grand Forks County, Eve Freeberg recorded RING-NECKED
DUCK, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, CANVASBACK, scaup and REDHEAD on
April 2; about 50,000 SNOW GEESE, four WOOD DUCKS, LESSER
YELLOWLEGS, AMERICAN COOT, GREATER SCAUP and AMERICAN WIGEON
on April 4; PIED-BILLED GREBE on April 6 and GREATER YELLOWLEGS,
22 SNOW BUNTINGS and SONG SPARROW on April 7. She's at 741-8105.
Betsy Batstone-Cunningham birded Grand Forks County on April
1-2. She found two adult and five juvenile BALD EAGLES at
Kellys Slough Refuge and two small groups of TUNDRA SWANS
on the first day. On April 2, she saw a good variety of
waterfowl at a flooded field just southwest of Larimore, and
her first GREAT BLUE HERON of spring as well as a rookery
with three more on their nest near Kempton. Contact Betsy
at 218-791-5079.
Dennis Wiesenborn's north Fargo neighborhood has attracted
some notable newcomers recently. He heard an EASTERN PHOEBE
singing on April 5, and saw a TURKEY VULTURE headed north,
tens-of-thousands of SNOW GEESE and CANADA GEESE, as well
as several hundred GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, CACKLING
GEESE and TUNDRA SWANS. You can reach Dennis at
d.wiesenborn@ndsu.edu
Connie Norheim and Carol Spurbeck toured Richland and Sargent
counties on April 4. They recorded two GREAT EGRETS, many
large flocks of SNOW GEESE and at least one ROSS'S GOOSE,
GREAT BLUE HERON, SONG SPARROW, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE,
a perched SWAINSON'S HAWK near Hankinson, two PIED-BILLED
GREBES, RING-BILLED GULLS and they heard SANDHILL CRANES.
Other finds included 17 species of waterfowl. Contact
Connie at 232-4386.
Dean Riemer discovered six TUNDRA SWANS, eight CANADA GEESE,
12 MALLARDS and five KILLDEER in a small pond south of Fargo
on April 3. He also recorded first-of-spring five GREATER
YELLOWLEGS and one LESSER YELLOWLEGS. Dean is at driemer@kwh.com
Mark Otnes located a single TREE SWALLOW just west of Ludden
in Dickey County on April 4, but reports western Sargent and
Ransom counties were mostly quiet that day. He's at
markotnes@ableone.net
Meridee Erickson-Stowman counted 16 SANDHILL CRANES southeast
of the Tower City exit off I-94 on April 3. She's at 749-2607.
From Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Lillian Crook saw a
flock of 80 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS on April 5, along with a pair
of GOLDEN EAGLES including one on a nest, SWAINSON'S HAWK
and KILLDEER. Contact her at lilliancrook@hotmail.com
Bernice Houser was visited by her first-of-spring MOURNING
DOVE on April 5. Other sightings near New Town included BLUE
JAY and more HOUSE FINCHES than previously. She's at
sanishnd@hotmail.com
Also from the New Town area, Rita Satermo recorded her first
WESTERN MEADOWLARK of the season on April 4. It's rsatermo@RTC.COOP
Finally...this note for your calendar: Dr. Bridget Stutchbury,
professor of biology at York University in Toronto, will
present "Migratory Songbirds--Canaries in the Mine?" on
April 23 at 7 pm in the Fargo Theater. It's free.
That concludes this week’s report from the North Dakota
Birding Society.
-end transcript
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