Indigo Bunting Lair o the Bear Park Jefferson County

[W. Robert Shade III]

After hearing and confirming visually my first Black-headed Grosbeak song of the season (2) I thought I heard my first Lazuli Bunting song of the season. Wrong! It was a male Indigo in the top of a tree (typical) in a grove of trees between the northwest corner of the parking lot and the highway. Territorial? Are INBU pushing west into LABU country? I saw over two dozen Painted Buntings in Texas in the second week of May and got to learn their song. They were in every location I birded between Fort Worth and Austin. I finally got #599 (Black-capped Vireo) and #600 (Golden-cheeked Warbler) for my ABA list. ☺ I was almost too late (May 8). If you go, mid- April is better. 

Also FOS pair of Plumbeous Vireo at the pullout halfway down the canyon where one can view the Golden Eagle nest. No sign of the eagles, either adults or young. 

By the way, there was a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak in my yard very briefly yesterday. Another eastern species that is not so rare here. 

Bob Shade

Lakewood