Gotcha! A New "Life Bird!"

After more than 5 years of hiking at Palmer Lake and watching birds, I've learned what kind of birds to expect and where and when. But I'm thrilled to report today that I saw and photographed a brand new species at the park! As with most sighting like this, there is a little "back story" that I'd like to share. About two weeks ago my friend Larry who also walks at the park, called to tell me that he'd heard a Black-billed Cuckoo calling from the trees near 73rd Avenue North. He said that he listened to it calling for over 30 minutes but never spotted it within the thick trees. When he told me that, I actually rushed over to the park right then and there. I poked around the area he mentioned but I never heard or saw anything. The mosquitoes were bad that day and it was hard to be still and listen. Anyway, I pretty much gave up on the bird since then. In fact I was much more interested in the Indigo Buntings today. I'd decided to walk counter-clockwise around the park today –which I rarely do. And when I came out into the sun on the north side where the trail is perfectly straight, I spotted a bird with a very long tail fly out from some low brush to my left. I am not very good at noticing tail or feather length, but this bird had an unusually long tail! 

The only other species I am familiar with that looked anything like this bird would have been a Brown Thrasher. But Brown Thrashers are much more rusty, reddish color and this bird was very dull. When it landed in a thick shrub, still at eye level, I could just barely see it's head. I looked through my binoculars and was stunned to see bright red coloring on the eye! Then I knew, this was no ordinary bird for me! I realized quickly it had to be the Black-billed Cuckoo that Larry had told me about. It continued on to another perch again but amazingly it stayed at eye level. Once or twice it landed in the lower part of a shrub that with less foliage where I got even better looks at it. It also had quite the long, downturned bill which is another reason it probably reminded me of the Brown Thrasher. 

The funniest thing about my sighting is that I've read that this bird is most often heard, before it it seen, or heard and never seen. My particular sighting was exactly the opposite, whereas I saw it first  but then never even heard it. I would have like to have heard it's call –a monotonous "cu cu cu cu" for which it is named. Though a rare sighting for me, this bird's summer range covers most of the midwest states including the entire state of Minnesota. I'm hoping this is not my last sighting of one! Before this entire escapade, I did spend quite a bit of time listening and watching for the Indigo Buntings that I've seen so much of this summer. It's my personal belief that it has been a good year for this bird as I've seen and photographed them countless times, not just at PLP but at many other places around the metro area.

 In years past I feel like I might see them between 1 and 3 times each season. But then again, I may just be looking harder than I used to! Here is my favorite photo of one today. Near the end of my walk I spotted one of those little white Butterflies that are also so common this time of year. They never seem to sit still for me but this one was interested in some like–colored white flowers. I learned today that the Butterfly is referred to as a "Cabbage White Butterfly" with the scientific name of Pieris rapae.