I was on a Bell Museum botany field trip this a.m. at Nine Mile Creek. I had binocs. A small flock of YRWA came thru above us. One of the males had a bright yellow throat. I was surprised and looked at him two more times before the group moved on. definite total yellow throat. otherwise a standard eastern form (myrtle). I have seen Audubons yellow-rumped in CO, but not in MN. There were 4-5 myrtle males and one female. No photo. no video. There were several of us bearing binocs in the group but when I told the nearest birder soon after, the bird had already moved across the canopy above the vernal pond basin, heading north with his conspecifics.
PS. I recommend Bell Museum botany field trips led by Bob Bergad. He is very knowledgeable and an excellent teacher, extemporizing on the morphology and life history of any tree/shrub/forb encountered. I think I have been on four now. Bob Bergad was distinguishing the Pennsylvania sedge from Spenglers sedge at the time the flock of warblers entered the woods. PPS. Carol Carter of Three Rivers Park District also found a singing brown thrasher that might be early(?) I can only think of two N American bird spp named for JJ Audubon--- Audubons shearwater and Audubons warbler. There may be more. He named scores of species for other people. good birding Gordon Andersson St Paul ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
