342. Plumbeous Vireo

Date         May 26, 2023

Location    Jewel Cave National Monument, Custer, SD

There is a short trail surrounding the VC that winds among the Ponderosa pines. I heard a classic vireo song. The pauses in between phrases were longer than Red-eyed; it was very similar to Blue-headed, but more buzzy. I checked some other vireos to be sure, but I thought it was one of the three Blue-headed species (that used to be one species before the split).

I wasn't very familiar with the ranges of the three species, so I consulted my field guide. The obvious possibility was the Plumbeous based on the song and range.

There were a few of them in the trees singing, but it took a while to find one with some help from Mieka. I was able to definitively confirm it: white spectacles, two white wingbars, gray and white overall, and I even caught a slight wash of yellow in the flanks just under the wing!

Cornell: Plumbeous Vireo

341. Blue Grosbeak

Date         May 23, 2023

Location    Badlands National Park (Cliff Shelf trail), Interior, SD

Many of the trails at Badlands have few trees, but the Cliff Shelf trail is an exception. This trail is actually quite shady with Ponderosa pines, so the birds were different than the normal flycatchers and ubiquitous W. Meadowlark; instead there were many Spotted Towhees singing.

After hiking up the steps and then starting down, I heard a warbling song that was unique, so I stopped to try to find the bird. I was unsuccessful at first, so I decided to scan with my binoculars the tree from which I thought the song was coming. At about 5 o'clock, deep in shadows, I found him. Despite the low light, I was able to see the large, silvery beak and the orange wing bars -- just barely, he started preening his wings a bit, and that helped.

Cornell: Blue Grosbeak

340. Gray-cheeked Thrush

 Date         May 6, 2023

Location    Prairie Oaks Forest Preserve, Kingston, IL

I saw a thrush hop up into a tree. He mostly had his back to us at first, and it clearly was not a Veery or Hermit Thrush (no rusty tail at all), so that left Bicknell's, Gray-cheeked, and Swainson's. Bicknell's is really out of range, so that left the other two.

One thing I noticed right off, because I knew the face was key, was that there was no eye ring. The face was otherwise unremarkable. He did eventually turn toward us enough that we could see the spots, and that further confirmed that it was one of the three listed above. The spots were much more distinct than Veery and too light and few for Wood Thrush.

Since it had no eye ring and no buffiness on the face, I concluded that it was a Gray-cheeked (or Bicknell's, because I didn't have the range at my fingertips or in my head). However, the nice thing was that just moments later we did see an obvious Swainson's, and the difference was quite distinct. That drove it home.

Cornell: Gray-cheeked Thrush