A ponding area beneath the water tower in Little Canada provided an
unexpectedly great day of Warbler viewing last year so I've been monitoring
this park daily of late. Began to see waves of warblers high in the tree tops
on Wed. evening, 5/13, so I made a point of birding there at 6:45 AM the next
morning (Thursday, 5/14). There were warblers everywhere. I saw 16 species of
warbler, 59 species of birds for the day. As I delighted in having a
Blackburian Warbler singing for me at an easy viewing range of about six feet
off the ground, I kept wishing that I had others there to enjoy it with me. I
finally left him in order to search for other species but it seemed almost
irreverent to be turning my back on such a beautiful sight. None of my birding
friends could break free for the day and when I stopped home and tried to
figure out how to post this event on the UMN site, I couldn't find the proper
address info. However, by the time I returned to the park at 11:00 AM, things
were really quieting down and a posting would have been too late anyway. I
could still find some warblers but most weren't singing.
This morning, 5/15, wasn't anything like yesterday but did produce several good
birds. Spotted two Blackburians chasing each other. Similarly, two Scarlet
Tanager males were chasing at the tops of the cottonwoods (poplars?) next to
the parking lot located off of Edgerton St, just south of Labore Rd. I wouldn't
make a trip to this site to see warblers because they seem to be winding down
but the Scarlet Tanagers have been there for a couple of days and might stick
around.
Cheri Steinmueller
Little Canada, MN
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