Numbers were fair-to-low at Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary in Minneapolis this morning, but quality was incredibly high. The highlight was a singing Yellow-billed Cuckoo! Other highlights from a quick, 40-minute stroll through the sanctuary included:
Eastern Kingbird (flew overhead, singing) Great-crested Flycatcher Least Flycatcher (many!) House Wren Gray Catbird Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Yellow-throated Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Boblink (flew overhead, singing) Northern Oriole Scarlet Tanager (so red against the green leaves, he almost hurt my eyes!) White-throated Sparrow Rufous-sided Towhee Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-and-White Warbler Tennessee Warbler Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Ovenbird Common Yellowthroat WARNING: If you're not familiar with Eloise Butler, it's not one of the best places to /see/ birds; birders must stay on a restricted series of trails and much of the sanctuary is lowland, with the treetops (and thus, the birds) far above. About 65% of the birds I got today were /heard/ only. Nevertheless, it is a truly lovely walk enjoyable for the wildflowers even if there are no good birds about. Happy spring! Matt ________________________ Matthew Bribitzer-Stull Asst. Prof. of Music Theory University of Minnesota
