Gnatcatcher Success!!!!

Well, the story goes a little something like this:

I first went to look for the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, which was reported from Beacon Hill Park last weekend, on Tuesday morning. When I pulled in to the area in which it had been seen, I saw Mike McG, who told me that the bird was right there. By the time I had parked and walked back, the bird had disappeared. I spent the next 3 hours scouring the area, all to no avail. 30 seconds too late.

I went back on Friday morning, arriving at 8:30am. Again, I missed the bird, this time by 25 minutes. A number of birds showed up to look, including Mike, Daniel D, Tom Plath, Mike Bentley, Val George, and a couple of others throughout the morning. Despite searching high and low, we couldn't find it, though another birder did report a brief glimpse.

Finally this morning I aimed to be there before the bird, and not miss it. I picked Jeremy G up at 7:00am, and we headed directly to Beacon Hill (with a quick coffee stop!). We met up with Jessie Fannuchi at the tennis court parking lot, and quickly also found Mike Bentley and Tom Plath who were also waiting for the bird to show. We split up to cover a bit of area, and I went around behind the patch of trees that it had been frequenting. Within a minute, I heard a soft call, and immediately yelled for the others. We all met on the west side of the patch, and quickly located the sharp-looking Blue-gray Gnatcatcher calling and foraging in the upper branches of the bare deciduous trees. High fives were exchanged all around, not only because it is a great bird, but because a couple of us (Tom Plath and I) had put in many, many hours this week trying to find it. The bird put on a show for about 10 minutes, then we lost track of it at about 7:50am. I heard a single call around 8:30am, and that was it.

Last I heard, Mike and Sharon Toochin had relocated the bird at 10:30am, so it has definitely been more cooperative today.

Three weeks left, and 10 species to go! It is starting to look like I might be doing "The Big Year II" next year, but let's see how close I can get!

Good birding,