Four for my Life List @ Mason Farm

If the Birding Brothers didn't know it, I am shadowing them.  (Stalking is such a nasty word, and besides, it's the birds I'm stalking.) When they say they've been somewhere and had good luck birding at a certain place, I usually show up a couple days later.  Mason Farm is one place that I've heard over and over that consistently delivers great views of birds.  Genia and I went once last fall and we were pretty frustrated, but this time, armed with a little information and birdsong, we came, we saw, and we found four for the life lists!  The American Redstarts were everywhere and we managed to chalk up that one within minutes from the parking lot.  I love it when that happens!

We got several looks at both male and female Blue Grosbeaks on the left fork of the main trail.  I was starting to think that they were just some urban birding legend and that I would never see one.

I love this guy with his plumped up breast just singing away.

We ran into the Birding Brothers later on as we came around the trail for the second time.  They had seen Prothonotary and Canada Warblers and Yellow billed Cuckoo that I'd have died to see, but we did manage to get in on some of the action and catch this White Eyed Vireo.

As we dawdled along the trail waiting to see fingers pointing and cameras up, we heard the song of what we thought was a Yellow Breasted Chat.  No good photos were to be had--one of the butt and a very strange shot with what must be a vine or seed pod hanging right in front of the face like a weird eye.

Heh heh, isn't that creepy?  I don't know if this counts as a sighting or not.  I sure wish I had gotten a better shot!