Much of the birding news this week comes from the North Shore of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota.

The CLARK’S NUTCRACKER continues to be seen fairly regularly in the city of Silver Bay, in Lake County. To view this bird, check the yards near Edison Boulevard, as well as nearby streets in the neighborhood.

Five CATTLE EGRETS were in Two Harbors, in Lake County, on October 23rd. The birds were seen at the ball fields along Lake County Road 2, two blocks north of State Highway 61. A HARLEQUIN DUCK was seen on the same day near the campground at Burlington Bay, and two more were in the Grand Marais Harbor in Cook County on the 23rd.

Chris Wood found a first-winter LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at the mouth of the Knife River in Lake County on October 26th, and a PACIFIC LOON was seen off the recreation area of Park Point in Duluth, in St. Louis County, on the 27th.

The first SNOWY OWL of the season was found October 23rd at Paradise Beach in Cook County, roughly 14 miles northeast of Grand Marais. On the 24th, a GREAT GRAY OWL was along St. Louis County Road 16, between Makinen and Brimson. The Owl was in the vicinity of the extensive spruce bog one mile west of the entrance to the Whiteface National Forest Service Campground.

As many as seven NORTHERN HAWK OWLS were reported on October 25th and 26th from the Sax-Zim Bog aree of St. Louis County. Two of these were near the sod farm on St. Louis County Road 7, north of County Road 133. Another Northern Hawk Owl was seen on the 24th just beyond Hawk Ridge in east Duluth. It was reported from the junction of Beyer and Strand Roads.

Other reports reported from the North Shore of Lake Superior are SURF SCOTER, WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, BLACK SCOTER, LONG-TAILED DUCK, THAYER’S GULL, and BOHEMIAN WAXWING.

Elsewhere in Minnesota, two Pacific Loons were found over the weekend in north-central Minnesota. One was seen on October 23rd on the west side of Lake Mille Lacs at Wigwam Bay, and the other was seen the following day at the Plughat Point public access on Lake Winnibigoshish in Itacsa County.

The LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL was seen again on Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis on the 23rd.

A GOLDEN EAGLE was over Carver Park in western Hennepin County on the 24th.
A CAROLINA WREN has been visiting a feeder on west Holdridge Road in the city of Wayzata, in Hennepin County, since October 23rd.

And in Ramsey County, Leslie Kottke had a VARIED THRUSH visit her St. Paul backyard on the 25th.