My 2014 Nemesis Bird Captured!

This spring, I had the fortune of having some unexpected time off of work. I spent as much of this time as I could at the park searching for springtime migrants and I had done very well for the season, even picking up a couple brand new species. But there was one bird in particular that I never spotted all spring –a Scarlet Tanager. There were visits I made where I specifically went in search of this bird, parking on my stool sitting and waiting and waiting and waiting only to never see one. On May 22nd of last year (2013) I had an amazingly close encounter with a Scarlet Tanager who was on the ground. So of course I expected to have a similar encounter this year! Yeah right. Remembering that day made me appreciate it even more after the entire spring of 2014 had passed without even a glimpse of one. I had given up hopes that I would be able to log this species for 2014, which of course is generally when something tends to happen. On the south side wood chip trail today I noticed some movement in the thick Buckthorn trees above me. I saw some bright yellow, which is always a color that makes me look closer this time of year. But this was too large to be a warbler. It was mostly obscured by the thick foliage and I didn't even have my binoculars with me. But after a few mostly blurry photos through the trees, I noticed the bird had very dark wings. Ah ha, it was a Scarlet Tanager!!! I waited and watched as patiently as I ever have for this bird to come out into the open but it just wasn't happening. A few times I could catch a better glimpse through a small opening in the leaves but every time I did, the bird would move again. I decided to try and lure it out with some bird calls but for the most part it did not seem interested. Finally after tracking faint glimpses of it's movement back and forth, it began working it's way to the edge of the tree. I found a pile of logs to climb up on and precariously tried to put myself in a good position for when it came out fully. Finally after nearly 45 minutes the bird appeared in front of me, unobstructed and with a nice blue sky behind. I quickly snapped as many pics as I could and I'm glad I did because only seconds later the bird flew off again. I tracked it to it's new spot even higher now in a Boxelder tree. To my surprise a second Scarlet Tanager flew in to meet it! Then I got an even bigger surprise when this second bird opened it's gape wide to beg for food! Indeed this was a juvenile who had been following around the parent Tanager. Though nearly impossible to capture a photo of this moment, I felt fortunate to have witnessed such a sight –and with such a special bird for my year. Though not in it's typical bright red "scarlet" coloring, I believe the parent to be a male. I could certainly be wrong but according to my Stokes Field Guide, the male would still possess black wings even in it's "yellow" (fall/winter) phase, while the female would show dark –but not black wings. Oh, I forgot to mention but in the very same place, a male AND female Rose-breasted Grosbeak both landed. They were in a very shaded area and I was not able to get a decent photo. I was so happy after my Tanager sighting that I hardly paid much attention to other birds for the rest of my walk. I did however see other species including Yellow-rumped Warbler, Eastern Phoebe, Wood Duck, Mallard, Black-capped Chickadee, Common Yellowthroat and my first "fall" White-throated Sparrows. Further on the south side I was surprised to catch a Monarch Butterfly again. It has been so cold last week that one would have a hard time imagining that they are still hatching or making their way south to Mexico for the winter. But indeed they are still around. This one grabbed hold of a small yellow flower that I believe to be Tall Hedge Mustard –a non-native if I'm correct. This was my favorite shot with the bright blue as a backdrop. Later I found another butterfly, this time a Cabbage White Butterfly on the only thistle flower in the area. In fact I'd stopped to see what was so bright pink on the edge of the trail first, right before the butterfly landed on it. I've recently read that this species of butterfly which is so common to our area is declining in the state of Florida. I am not sure what the reason is.