I've had a very satisfying day of birding today - all without leaving 
my neighborhood (in fact, without leaving the house for most 
of the day).  On a short walk to Greenbelt Lake this morning, 
I heard a Red-eyed Vireo singing (my first of the year).  There  
were Yellow-rumped Warblers everywhere - two or three in 
every tree, it seemed.  Later, after filling all of the feeders 
(which had been empty for longer than I care to admit), the 
following birds arrived in quick succession:

White-eyed Vireo - FOY, new yard bird
House Wren - FOY
Chimney Swift - FOY for the yard (flew over the house)
Gray Catbird - FOY, on the suet feeder
BLUE GROSBEAK (male) - FOY, new yard bird

The Blue Grosbeak was a nice surprise, since I've never seen one 
around here before.  He seemed a bit shy but came to the feeders 
several times during the afternoon.  I was thinking, "Wow, the only
thing that could top this would be a Rose-breasted Grosbeak."  This  
thought was barely out of my head when, to my astonishment, a 
male ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK came streaking out of the 
woods and into the feeder hanging from the deck.  He wasn't shy at 
all and came to the feeder two or three times for several minutes 
each time, giving me and my four-year-old grandson (who was 
visiting for the afternoon) long, wonderful looks.  He readily agreed 
with me that it was a "very cool bird."  (And since I've just recently 
started counting:  the Rose-breasted Grosbeak was yard bird #57.)

The day ended with a Wood Thrush (another FOY) singing in the 
backyard at dusk.

Good backyard birding!

Elaine Hendricks
Greenbelt, MD  (PG County)



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