[mou] Orange-crowned Warbler, Hennepin Co.

[Conny Brunell]

This morning at Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield, Hennepin County Leslie and I felt like we were standing in the middle of marching troops.  I've been seeing the Yellow-rumped Warblers since April 8th, and they have increased gradually since then, but this morning they were everywhere.  At several points they were covering the ground in front of us methodically moving forward, and surprisingly enough there were many Swamp Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, and  Hermit Thrush's with them.  There were easily over a hundred Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and the Yellow-rumped Warblers outnumbered them hands down.

We saw the Orange-crowned Warbler early on moving over a green shrub, and I knew it was just not another Ruby-crowned because I could see the yellow undertail coverts, yellow split eyering, and a blurry streaked breast before it disappeared.  There were several Winter Wrens, one even singing over all the other vocalizations cranked up this morning.  All the birds were in a hurry almost frenzied, and they were low often on the ground instead of the tree tops.

Conny Brunell
Richfield, Hennepin Cty
connyb@mycidco.com