
Common Yellowthroat.
Photo by Scott Harris
Twenty birders attended the monthly Bles Park bird walk on July 17. Highlights of the walk included several great looks at Indigo Buntings, a good look at a Common Yellowthroat, and a flyover by an adult Bald Eagle. All told, the group found 43 species of birds along with several other typical sightings for the park, including a Muskrat, Eastern Pondhawk and Blue Dasher dragonflies and a couple species of damselflies. We also found a fledgling Brown-headed Cowbird that appeared to have been raised by an Acadian Flycatcher. Brown-headed Cowbirds are brood parasites, which means that they lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, focusing their reproductive energies on egg production instead of feeding nestlings.