Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden Birds to Become Part of State Birding History
  
During the next five years the Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas (MNBBA), a multi-agency project, will be conducting a survey of breeding birds throughout our state. The atlas will provide up-to-date information about the nesting bird species of Minnesota. This data will help direct future conservation efforts and provide a wonderful reference for anyone interested in Minnesota birds.  
Bird Nesting

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s naturalist program will lead groups of volunteers throughout Minneapolis park properties to survey the status of nesting birds. We will be looking for evidence of nesting activity in our renowned Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and throughout Theodore Wirth Park, the Chain of Lakes, neighborhood parks and Audubon-certified golf courses. We will contribute our data to the statewide effort.

This first year of the project is primarily a time to get systems and procedures in place and try them out. We are beginning to collect some information about breeding birds. In the coming year we hope to have training programs and get as many people involved in the project as possible.

You can find out more about the statewide project through the atlas website at www.MNBBA.org. Also, be sure to watch for programs and opportunities to learn and volunteer in the coming year. These will be posted on the MPRB website at www.Minneapolisparks.org, and notices will be sent to those on the MPRB and wildflower garden program email lists.

  
 
©2009 Friends of the Wild Flower Garden. Text and photo by Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board Naturalist Tammy Mercer. Published in The Fringed Gentian™, vol. 57-3, Summer 2009