Hi Everyone! I hope that you are all staying healthy and safe!!! Most of the time I have been staying home. Luckily I have a nice neighborhood where I can take walks and a backyard with a lake, where I kayak or just sit and watch the birds.

A couple of days ago I did drive off to a nearby wildlife refuge. This is one of only a few that are open. This one has multiple roads that go in and out, with no gates to close them off…

Luckily, I saw less than 5 other people and they were all fishing in the small ponds, so I was able to stay far enough away from everyone.

I wanted to do some birding since the migration has begun and I didn’t want all the birds to pass me by…

I did manage to find a few bird species that I hadn’t seen yet this year. Before heading off to the refuge, I looked on my bird app to see just what birds had been seen in the area. This was very helpful when I kept hearing a bird singing over and over again, but I was never able to spot the bird! Knowing what birds were around, I played those bird songs on my phone until I found the one that I had been hearing…

It was a Northern Parula, I would show you a photo, but I never did actually see the bird, but I must of heard at least a dozen of them!!!

There are a lot of fields in this refuge and in the first one I came to, I found this bird…

It’s a Blue Grosbeak. They can be found in the US, mostly in the southern states and into Mexico. Their diet consists of insects and seeds.

Afterwards, I headed into the woods and heard the Northern Parula and saw a White-eyed Vireo. I also saw a bird fluttering around on the edge of the fields, it was blue. It could have been another Blue Grosbeak or a Bluebird (which I also saw many of)… but I decided to walk closer to the bird to get a better look, just to make sure of which bird it was. It turned out to be…

An Indigo Bunting. They are similar to the Blue Grosbeak, but they have a smaller bill and they don’t have the cinnamon colored wing bars. Both species eat insects and lots of seeds, that is why you can find them in the fields. 

I ended the day by seeing a Black and White Warbler and hearing the American Redstart, so it was a good day! Now I am up to 204 total species for the year, not that bad for April…

Stay healthy and safe!