Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog

When the trees at the Falls of the Ohio reach peak color, birders keep an eye open for avian rarities.  The Uncommon Bluebill may or more likely may not appear in the park.  Usually birders have to settle for glossy pictures of this bird in fancy magazines devoted to all things…birds.  Those images are usually taken in the bluebill’s northern haunts during the breeding season when the birds are a bit more distracted as they go through their courtship gyrations.  This post is about a personal stroke of luck as I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to record the Uncommon Bluebill at the Falls of the Ohio.

And here it is!  As advertised, this bird does possess a distinctly blue beak.  It’s a little larger than the average wood warbler and has some of the same foraging behaviors.  Other distinct features for identification purposes include a white body and pink tail.  This bird is equally at home on the ground or in the top most branches of a tree.  I do confess that I wasn’t looking for this bird for that would be an excercise in frustration.  In a way, it has to find you and you have to be prepared to receive it when it appears.  That is why I bring my camera with me whenever I’m here.

I recall that a few Golden-crowned Kinglets proceeded the bluebill.  I was watching the kinglets and their hovering, mid-air investigations of the undersides of leaves when from the corner of my eye I noticed a bird that was distinctly not a kinglet.  The Uncommon Bluebill moved easily from a branch to the trunk of a tree ready to pounce on the insects it discovered.  Some of my best shots of this single bird were in association with a Milkweed vine that held its attention for a while.  It was so intent in its pursuit that it did not notice me observing it from behind a large willow.

I held my breath and hoped the digitally- produced mechanical camera noise would not frighten it away.  The bird hung around for a minute and no longer.  After that, it was gone.  I walked silently over the dropped willow leaves and back to my car.  I had just seen a creature so rare that it was essentially a ghost.  What could possibly top that as an experience today?