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Posted by Bruce P on 16:33:00 09/26/14
It's no great rarity, but for whatever reason it has always eluded me. In recent years, I've been making a concerted effort to see one, with no luck. So, in the past week: a novice birder sent me a picture of a bird he took in southern PBC that he needed help identifying (a Blue Grosbeak, naturally), a local Broward birder posted a BLGR sighting with pics and good location details on Ebird (and only about 10 minutes from me in N Broward!), and a birding buddy sent me an email with pictures and exquisitely detailed location info, such that I could practically identify the bush that she saw it in.
So, I've been out there each of the past 3 days looking for my 'nemesis'. On day 1, using the Ebird location details which had the BLGR on W. Hillsboro Blvd (formerly County Line Rd.) near Nob Hill Rd., I saw a flock of 80-100 Bobolinks, 25-30 Eastern Meadowlark, big numbers of waders and a variety of raptors, including FOS Northern Harrier - but no Grosbeak.
On day 2, using the 'buddy' directions (end of CLR, get out and walk west on gravel road, BLGR in first 100 yds), my wife and I saw a nice variety of birds - 7 or 8 warbler species, my FOY Short-tailed Hawk (dark form) and, on the way out (being forced to turn back by rain and lightning), a lifer Shiny Cowbird (on Nob Hill Rd)!
That bring us to today, Day 3. Third time's a charm, right? I get there nice and early, drive directly to the end of the road, get out and start walking down the dirt road. The first thing that strikes me is the unusual number of Common Yellowthroat (I see about 10 in the first 50 ft). As I continue walking, a Kestrel swoops on a small group of shore birds ( Killdeer, Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper) for no apparent reason, I flush a group of 15-20 Ground Doves, Red-tailed, Red-shouldered Hawks and Osprey soaring around, numerous LH Shrikes, a White-throated Vireo. Still no BLGR, but a cacophony of bird sounds ahead, so I continue forward. I get to the end of the trail where it connects to the N-S trail that runs along the canal (and is a well-known songbird location) and there are 4 more Kestrels harassing a group of Blue Jays in what must have been some sort of territorial dispute; it was nice to see the Blue Jays being the harassees for once. All the while, the number of Common Yellowthroat has been ratcheting up (I'm up to about 30 in a quarter-mile). I turn north and begin to see significant numbers of warblers - Redstart, Prairie, Cape May, a late Yellow, a Blackpoll, N Parula, B&W, many more Yellowthroats and the first Fall Palms - along with a number of flycatchers (Great-crested, Least and a few 'Traill's' type) and Woodpeckers. At this point, the Yellowthroats and Palm Warblers start to gather up and stay about 10 yards ahead of me as I walk. After about a half-mile, I literally had to reverse direction because the group of birds staying just in front of me had grown to around 50 (about 20 Palm and 30 Yellowthroat) and I could no longer pick out the other, more reserved, species! I would estimate that, in total, I encountered 200-250 warblers, nearly 100 of them Common Yellowthroat.
Oh, and the Blue Grosbeak? Not today, I'm afraid. This is birding after all, not some happily-ever-after childrens' bedtime story! I'll just suck it up, be grateful for a good days' birding, and try again tomorrow.
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