Memorial Day Hours
Happy Memorial Day from the Wood Thrush Shop! We will be closed Monday May 25th in observation of Memorial day, with normal hours resuming on Tuesday, May 26th. We hope you all enjoy the unofficial start of summer, and look forward to seeing you Tuesday morning at 10:00!
Blue Grosbeaks Are Being seen
Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea)
Photo by Eli Haislip
After arriving home after work on Wednesday, a flutter of blue in the brushy field next to my apartment caught my attention. Even from a distance of roughly 50 yards, I could see that the bird wasn’t behaving like an Eastern Bluebird, and the blue didn’t seem like the right shade even from a distance. I had my binoculars handy, and thinking I possibly had my first of season Indigo Bunting, I took a closer look.
I immediately could tell this wasn’t an Indigo Bunting. In addition to being too large for an Indigo Bunting, the colors were wrong. It had very distinct warm brown wing bars, and an enormous silvery bill that looked large enough that it could crush any seed or nut with ease. This was no bunting, this was a Blue Grosbeak!
Interestingly, unlike Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, they are not feeder visitors despite eating insects and seeds. Also unlike Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, who are only brief visitors between mid April and mid May, the Blue Grosbeak will spend the spring and summer here in Tennessee to breed and raise their young before migrating south to Central America and the Caribbean in the fall. This means that you can spot these gorgeous songbirds throughout the coming months. They prefer fairly open habitats such as scrub or brushy fields. I have seen them most recently at Bell’s Bend, where I observed a pair along the roadside just before you turn into the nature center. In the past, I have also seen them out in Pegram at Gossett Tract. With some birds not even arriving until July, there is still plenty of time to see these beautiful summer visitors!