Bobolinks are marvelous grassland birds. Because I grew up in a more forested section of western New York, they weren’t very common. While my life list from that area was packed with warblers and other woodland birds, it was really weak on grassland birds and shorebirds. I didn’t came across Bobolinks until I moved to Michigan. I’ve found them them in the same sorts of habitats as Eastern Meadowlarks, Dickcissel and Savannah Sparrows, which were also not particularly common where I grew up. They have a fun call, and their patterns in flight are beautiful to watch. I still get excited whenever I am treated to seeing them.
I got the photos for this painting about a mile from our house. While walking our dog I spied a pair of Bobolinks calling from a sapling tulip poplar near the local high school’s baseball field. The birds stayed for a week or two before departing. I was incredibly hopeful that they might breed on the site, but they had other plans. Over the years we have seen a lot of unusual birds at the cross-country trails and ponds near that school. Other highlights there of things uncommon in our area include Bald Eagles, Osprey, Trumpeter Swans, Red-headed Woodpeckers and a Northern Mockingbird.
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