What a beautiful day for birding!! For the past four days when I've stepped out of my car in the parking lot by the visitor's center there have been unusually large numbers of Cedar Waxwings and Eastern Bluebirds. Actually I don't think I've ever seen so many of each. Today was no exception. I've enjoyed watching the chipping sparrows fly into the big bluestem grasses, grab the stems, bend them over and then work their way down to the seed heads to consume the seeds, all the while bouncing up and down and swaying in the breeze. What a sight. The prairie immediately surrounding the visitor's center is fantastic. There are many different kinds of forbes and grasses and many species of birds are feasting on the smorgasbord. My thanks go out to all the staff and volunteers who make the UW Arboretum such a special place. (Off topic: Yesterday I saw a Weasel in among the large boulders on the south side of the visitor's center.) The special birds today were: One, first of the season, Fox Sparrow in with a flock of 15 or so White-throated Sparrows Two Golden-crowned Kinglets and two Ruby-crowned Kinglet Four Eastern Towhees Five Hermit Thrushes One Brown Creeper One Blue-headed Vireo A smattering of warblers but mostly Yellow-rumped Warblers The Crows and Common Grackles must have called a convention because there were large groups of each congregating in the tree tops. The others I saw today are appended below in my eBird list. Hope you can all get out today! Good birding to you all, Chuck Henrikson Madison Dane County 15 Canada Goose 3 Wild Turkey 1 Great Blue Heron 1 hawk sp. 2 Sandhill Crane 1 Ring-billed Gull 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 4 Empidonax sp. 1 Eastern Phoebe 1 Blue-headed Vireo 1 Red-eyed Vireo 15 Blue Jay 35 American Crow 6 Black-capped Chickadee 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Brown Creeper 2 House Wren 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 25 Eastern Bluebird 5 Hermit Thrush 21 American Robin 10 European Starling 50 Cedar Waxwing 1 Tennessee Warbler 1 Nashville Warbler 10 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1 Palm Warbler 1 American Redstart 1 Common Yellowthroat 4 Eastern Towhee 12 Chipping Sparrow 1 Fox Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 15 White-throated Sparrow 3 Dark-eyed Junco 4 Northern Cardinal 10 Red-winged Blackbird 30 Common Grackle 3 House Finch 50 American Goldfinch Total species reported: 42 #################### You received this email because you are subscribed to the Wisconsin Birding Network (Wisbirdn). To UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn. To set DIGEST or VACATION modes, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: //www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn. Visit Wisbirdn ARCHIVES at: //www.freelists.org/archives/wisbirdn.