Blue-gray gnatcatcher. Photo by Julie Zickefoose.And sure enough it was today.
Just about the time I was throwing the hotdogs on the grill, and shellacking the kids at a game of P-I-G on the basketball court, I heard the telltale high-pitched, buzzy lisp of our latest spring returnee.
The blue-gray gnatcatchers got in today here in Southeastern Ohio. An undeniable sign of spring. Hallelujah!
I ran to the house for my binocs and when I came out I could hear the gnatcatcher's call, but at some distance. Where to look? .....DUH! Look in the trees that are flowering. That's where the gnats AND THUS the gnatcatchers will be. Ah! Look there! In the crown of that red maple. It's a male blue-gray and he's looking natty!
Happy spring to you, my fellow bird watchers! May a gnatcatcher soon arrive to catch your gnats.
Please send ALL signs of spring this way. I just got a foot of snow. No, not an exaggeration, either.
ReplyDeleteverification word: tzzard
My Sunday birds of spring were a pair of Tree Swallows returning to my yard, three Purple Martins, and a singing Chipping Sparrow along the nature trail in town. Huzzah!
ReplyDelete~Kathi
Sweet!!!! So glad to see his return on Indigo Hill. :c) I had my first Hummer at the feeder yesterday. Spring has sprung indeed.
ReplyDeleteSadly I have never seen a blue-gray gnatcatcher Bill. I am just north of their range but one never knows when a stray will pop up! I am lucky enough to have clay-colored sparrows on my property for the last 7 years and can't wait to hear their "buzz buzz buzz" in about 1 month!!
ReplyDeleteThe weather here has just begun to warm up to the 50's WOOOHOOOO!!
I saw my first on Sat.!
ReplyDeleteBest Monday morning at work, ever: a flock of golden crowned kinglets flitting around the pine trees in the back lot; one them executes a perfect --and close!-- fly-by right outside my window. It really is spring!
ReplyDeleteUpdate from NC - We've had black-throated green warblers calling since Apr 4, and heard/saw the first black-and-white today. Four of the rough-winged swallows from the ill-fated, mite-infested nestbox on our house did a fly-by this evening. They have returned every year since we took the box down to see if the place they were raised is available.
ReplyDeleteSee you soon in WV,
Connie