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Saturday we had the opportunity to visit the Aley property in Taney County (previously discussed in an email relay from Paul McKenzie). We had hoped to re-locate the Bachman's Sparrows that he observed there - we were not successful in that effort, but we were amply rewarded with a stunning day of birding that entertained all our senses. The temperatures had cooler and the sky was clear - we had stunning views of a large glade filled with wildflowers and native plants (I think some in the group identified over 22 different blooming wildflowers), saw at least one pair of Painted Buntings and several other sightings of males in all their glory perched up tall in great sunlight. Excellent views of multiple Blue Grosbeaks; Scissor-tail Flycatchers feeding young; more Grasshopper Sparrows than we could count; many Lark and Field Sparrows; a Common Nighthawk doing aerial displays complete with dives and that "brrrrr" noise. And the sweetest sight of all - a pair of newly fledged Orchard Orioles sans tails huddled together on a small branch; you photographers out there would have died for that shot! They have a great nursery going on there - we saw lots of parent birds carry food to young. Almost all the birds were singing - except of course for the Bachman's Sparrow! What I had not expected was the FRAGRANCE of the glade --- there was a light, spearmint fragrance just about everywhere coming from the Slender Mountain Mint plant; there also seemed to be a more earthy-herbal fragrance, but we never could identify the plant it was coming from. On Sunday, we visited the Glade Top Trail. Tried at several locations there for the Bachman's, but again were unsuccessful. We did add Pine and Prairie Warblers to our list --- and two Greater Roadrunners. The real treat was that we got to hear the Roadrunners vocalizing -- what an eerie sound that is! They were not at the Caney Picnic area as in previous year, this time they were along the stretch of road that goes to Brownbranch. One the things that I most enjoy about birding is the opportunity to see parts of the state (and the country) that I never would have visited otherwise. The glade habitat in south Missouri is one of those special places, very hard to describe its unusual beauty, but if you haven't made a point to see it, you need to add it to your "places I must see" list. Jean Leonatti Boone County, Columbia, MO [log in to unmask] __________________________________________________ ########################################################### * Audubon Society of Missouri's * * Wild Bird Discussion Forum * *---------------------------------------------------------* * To subscribe or unsubscribe, click here: * * https://po.missouri.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mobirds-l&A=1 * *---------------------------------------------------------* * To access the list archives, click here: * * http://po.missouri.edu/archives/mobirds-l.html * * * * To access the Audubon Society of Missouri Web * * Site: http://mobirds.org * ###########################################################