[mou] Yellow-billed Cuckoo at Eloise Butler

[Matt Bribitzer-Stull]

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