The Bobolinks are here!

Few birds are as exuberant as a male Bobolink in May as it anticipates the arrival of the females.  Its song is a bubbling cascade that is picked up by competing males.  If unfamiliar, it is best to just search for it on the internet.  It's lovely.  The singing is temporary.  Once the pairs begin nesting, the bubbling chorus is replaced by whines and chips.

Bobolinks are a grassland bird that find minor stalks or bushes to perch on for their singing.

The yellow cap on the head and the white on black back of the body earn it the name "Tuxedo Bird".

They are an inquisitive bird that balances the singing with searching for catapillars.  (Saw it but wasn't fast enough to capture on camera.) On the plus side, they are not shy around people.  Was often within twenty feet, standing still naturally.

The bird can perch on very thin grass stalks suggesting how little they actually weigh.

The biggest challenge is being quick enough to actually capture a sharp image of one in flight.  

This was a 1/2000 second shutter on burst mode with eye tracking autofocus. Expect one good image in a hundred whenever I add some anticipation of flight. 

Another trait that I find interesting is their ability to find makeshift perches, sometimes bridging between two stalks.

Bobolinks also display a fluttering flight similar to how various raptors hover when looking for prey.  Seems this is more part of display for these birds.

My most loved behavior is still the full throated song offered with shaking throat feathers from a perch on what ever is available.

This is all so temporary.  In about two months, the grassland will have large flock of adults and juveniles coursing over the meadow before quickly departing southward.

Happy to share where to find these with my neighbors.

Paul Schmitt