ML594797641
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Observation details
Continuing (possible second bird at the bridge but couldn’t get a pic, was singing a partial song and seemed dark overall in a brief look but maybe was a lazuli). I think this bird I did re-discover was found by Herb Elliott a week or two ago. Couldn’t decide where to bird today and thought Laguna Lake but remembered a renaissance faire was being held in the gazebo habitat so decided on aiming for this bird thinking I might get better views than the one seen at San Simeon State Park. Had the windows down when on PC Road but couldn’t hear the bird yet so parked in some dirt on the north shoulder west of a gate, before the first set of willows after the admin buildings, thinking the car might scare the bird into hiding if I parked at the willows. I walked up to the willow area and could hear lazuli chips, a yellowthroat and grosbeak, then all of a sudden the loud-as-heck song of the Indigo. It was on the north side of the road, where it stayed the entire time I was around, maybe twenty minutes, sometimes flying to fennel, sometimes staying in willows, often close and hiding, but also perching, always singing, sometimes perching 50-60 yards away. I recorded some of it and waited, hoping for close shots. Most of my pics were distant as there are willows along a distant northern fence line where the bird safely sang away from this human interference. The bird mostly worked the top of the canopy, though sometimes foraged a bit between song notes, maybe halfway down a willow. The willows closest held many species: blue grosbeak, pac-slope, hooded oriole, lesser goldfinch, black phoebe, and two immature lazuli buntings. It sometimes flew above them and sang. This bird, from what I recall was bright, rich blue, brighter than the nearby male blue grosbeak. It had a dark blue crown, and maybe a slightly darker blue head, though the crown was obviously darker. It had a few pale patches including on its underside and behind its left eye (maybe right too). Its wings were dark—grey to blackish—and primaries had brown streaks, and had a bright blue wingbar. Its back was a bright and rich blue and its bill stocky and silvery. This bird was easy to find, loves to sing, and generally I think it doesn’t like cars though it was skittish around me, while not afraid to sing its heart out.
Technical information
- Recorder
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 259.26 KB