Blue Grosbeak in Bartlett

It wanted to rain, but was holding off for most of the afternoon. We decided to bird the edges of a small ball field. I parked the car outside the locked gate and we walked around to the right.

There was a small gray flycatcher perched on a small thin tree. It was flying up to catch insects and then returned to the limb that it had left. We studied this very small bird. It was the Least Flycatcher (Empidonax Minimus), the smallest Empidonax flycatcher in the eastern United States.

We enjoyed watching two beautiful Red Tailed Hawks(Buteo Jamaicensis) making lazy circles in the sky.

As we crossed the ball field, we waded through the overgrown grass. In the middle of the grassy field, Berry spotted a blue bird with a distinct brown wing bar. This was a male Blue Grosbeak(Passerine Caerulea). We studied it for several minutes. This was the bird of the day. This is also a Life Bird for us, for we had never seen this bird before.

I ran ahead into the deeper part of the forest and looked back. There was a large Red Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus), about the size of your forearm. It is not the largest woodpecker that we have seen.

There were several Eastern Bluebirds (Scalia Sialis) on the wires. We call these "America's Bird" because they are red, white and blue.

Both of us were delighted when we saw two very large American Crows (Corvus Brachyrhynchos) flying across the ball field and heading to the forested part behind the fence.

Robert and Berry

Photo courtesy of wikipedia