Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Summertime Blues

Blue Grosbeak 7/23/14
Beverly D. Crone Restoration Area
South Bend
The St. Joseph County Parks recently established The Beverly D. Crone Restoration Area. The site was previously known as the Jackson Road Landfill. I was turned on to the birding possibilities about a year ago by Vince Gresham who at the time was the naturalist at Rum Village Park nearby. I have birded the area several times, but never during breeding season. When I stopped by a couple of weeks ago, I was struck by the diversity of grassland species - Dickcissel, Henslow's Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark and Bobolink to name a few. Today, I was pleasantly surprised to find this Blue Grosbeak... The BCRA is on Jackson Rd. south of Ireland Road and can be accessed from either Locust  Rd. or Linden Rd.

Dickcissel 7/16/14