BLOOMINGTON - Just seeing a broad-wing hawk soar over the trees at Ewing Park was enough to make many of the 28 birders glad they didn't sleep in Saturday morning. Seeing a yellow-rumped warbler, golden finch or a Cooper's hawk thrilled others.

Members of the Twin Cities' John Wesley Powell Audubon Chapter of the National Audubon Society and members of the public started their walk in the park's woods at 8 a.m., listening for the calls of birds over the sounds of lawn mowers.

The group arranges walks like these because people are more likely to protect nature if they are connected to it, chapter president Rhea Edge said.

"It's been a good week here; I don't know what the day will bring," Les Allen, one of the field trip leaders, told the walkers as they set out.

During the walk, the expert birders were quick to lend binoculars to newcomers, explain what they saw, point to unusual birds and identify the sounds of calls.

There has been heightened interest in raptors in the Twin Cities since the appearance of a wild bald eagle last week in the trees at Miller Park.

The Audubon Society's theme this year is raptors. The Miller Park eagle helps increase interest, which the society also has cultivated through projects at schools and nature centers. A "Celebrate the Year of the Raptor" event will be held at Sugar Grove Nature Center next month.

As the group walked among the trees, Edge told the group about the hundreds of hours of volunteer work done in the area, with members planting, weeding, and maintaining the trail.

Margaret Hollowell, one of the birders on the walk, was responsible for many of the plants. Hollowell recently was named the 2007 World of Difference person of the year by the Ecology Action Center for efforts like these. "She has done a lot of work," Edge said.

New birders in the group

While many of the walkers have been birding for years, there were new bird lovers, too. Aditi Udupa, 8, of Bloomington found more information for the stories she writes about birds. The Colene Hoose Elementary School student, the youngest on the walk, learned the names of several new birds. In her stories, the birds have personalities, such as cowbirds, which she calls the "naughty ones."

Sometimes, Ewing Park attracts people from across the state, including a time in 1999 when a rare painted bunting was spotted. The bird usually is no closer than Arkansas.

Nothing so rare was spotted Saturday, but it's a particularly good time of year to watch birds in the Twin Cities because of the spring migration. The park is a good place to see them because it is kept natural to welcome the birds.

There was talk a few years ago of making a dog park there, but that was shelved in favor of the natural area, Edge said.

"We're always fighting to keep remnants of natural areas," Edge said. The wildlife artist and fine arts professor at Eureka College helped her students establish a patch of prairie at the college this year.

She enjoys nature walks with birders because of their sweet support. "It's a nice way to experience beauty, quiet and calmness," she said.

Audubon events

Morning walk

What: Saturday morning bird walk

Why: Members of the John Wesley Powell Audubon Chapter will spot and help identify birds on the walk.

When: 8 to 9:30 a.m., May 12 and May 19

Where: Meet at the Towanda Avenue parking lot at Ewing Park, Bloomington

Brunch meeting

What: John Wesley Powell Audubon Chapter annual meeting brunch and walk

Why: Celebrate the year of the raptor

When: 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. May 26

Where: Sugar Grove Nature Center at Funks Grove

RSVP: By e-mail at Lssclimb@aol.com