Chattin' with the chat

As I mentioned in my last post (also done today), I went after a Yellow-breasted Chat that's been seen at Bald Eagle State Park, about 30 miles from my house.

The key to finding the bird was, of all things, patience. Gretchen and I had missed on the bird the other night because we just didn't wait around long enough, I think. This time, I went to the tree where the bird had been seen and just stood and sat around, listening to the millions of Gray Catbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds. After about 30 minutes, just when I was just about to give up (isn't that always when the good stuff happens?), I heard the craziest sound: a single-noted call, but not a single note; it was more like several notes in harmony, a chord, almost a twanging sound. This was nothing like any other bird I'd heard before. I first thought it was a catbird showing off, but I kept hearing it, and that's when I saw the unmistakeable flash of deep yellow. First, he was skulky, giving me only little glances:

Can I help you?!

but then he did what Gretchen had told me he would do: he picked a spot and sang from it, although only ever the one note, the twang.

It sounded NOTHING like the call on my Stokes CDs. 

 

 The light was terrible; it was between 7:30 and 8:30, and there was some thin cloud cover muting the sunlight. Still -- isn't he beautiful? Lifer number 338!