A YELLOW-BILLED LOON was discovered in Two Harbors, in Lake County last weekend and was seen as recently as January 12th. The bird was found on Lake Superior near Lighthouse Point. A pair of HARLEQUIN DUCKS has also been present on the east side of the breakwall.

The influx of northern owls continues in Minnesota. GREAT GRAY OWLS are now being reported moving south in large numbers into Carlton, Pine, Itasca, Aitkin, and Crow Wing counties. NORTHERN HAWK OWLS seem to have settled in and can still be found in places such as the Sax-Zim Bog in St. Louis County. On January 5th, a SNOWY OWL was at the railroad yards in the town of Proctor, in St. Louis County.

The BARROW’S GOLDENEYE was found again on the 11th on the Mississippi River east of Hastings in Dakota County. It was once again amongst a group of roughly 100 COMMON GOLDENEYE.

An apparent gray-phase GYRFALCON was seen briefly in Two Harbors on January 9th, flying past the lighthouse and then down the shore in the direction of Duluth.

On the 8th, 365 gulls were present at Black Dog Lake in Dakota County, including a GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL and two GLAUCOUS GULLS.

SPRUCE GROUSE were seen on January 9th along State Highway 1, between Mile Posts 306 and 305, as well as at Mile Post 301 in Lake County. Five more were just west of State Highway 73 on St. Louis County Road 85 on the 8th.

On January 8th, an AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER and two BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS were seen along McDavitt Road in the Sax-Zim Bog. From St. Louis County Road 7, head two miles west on Sax Road, then roughly 2 1/2 miles north on McDavitt Road.
A TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE was relocated on the 7th at Leif Ericson Park in Duluth, and was seen in the conifers near the Viking ship replica.

On January 11th, a VARIED THRUSH was in a crabapple tree in the Wilson Hall Courtyard at Itasca Community College in Itasca County. The community college is along U.S. Highway 169 in Grand Rapids.